Slimehammer 40K
by RoyalStarlord
Summary: Two universes become connected through an unusual application of technologies that warp space and time. A detective, an archeologist, a biologist, and a bodyguard, once forming an investigation team to find a missing person, will be transformed and brought to dimensions that are unheard of from their perspectives and realities.
1. Deep Within a Cave

**_Deep Within a Cave  
_**

* * *

_'... It's so dark._

_Where am I?_

_What happened to me?'_

These thoughts sluggishly flowed into a numbed mind, wracked with unfamiliar pain, though not dissimilar to a migraine. Worse still, a firm force surrounded the barely conscious body, limiting their movement to nothing but a muted struggle. The texture of the immediate surrounding seemed cool to the touch, yet was quite grainy and mushy. It was a texture quite akin to mud from either a riverbed, or a lakebed.

However, this semi-unconscious individual gritted themself to their senses as they flexed their body, seeking some slight purchase in the environment they were trapped in.

_'... I... I need to break free.'_

The body shivered and rippled as they sought some crack or gap in their cocoon of compact, wet silt. There was no weaknesses they could feel in their cage of sodden earth, as they found no hint of freedom in front of them, or behind them, to their left, their right, or even below. No matter where they reached, they found no exit that relieved them of their current confinement.

However, they eventually discovered a hint of hope as the soggy, yet cloying, dirt above themself gave away from a prying push. Further prodding only served to push the soil out and further away. It also seemed to suckle upon their form, as though their cage was stuck inside of a pressurized balloon. Perhaps something good would happen if they pushed themself even further above?

Suction grappled their body, forcing them to burst out of the damp ground with an audible 'pop'. They flew in the air for the briefest of seconds before landing onto the ground in what sounded like a wet splat.

"Oof."

At least they were no longer in that suffocating prison. However, their freedom revealed only one answer to their two questions. Their eyes blinked open to witness a dark cavern-like structure looming over and around themself, which looked like they were within a naturally formed underground lake. The lake was fed a trickle of water from a tunnel that lead elsewhere, possibly leading to another level of freedom. Slivers of light poked into the tunnel of the underground lake's only tunnel exit, which hinted only further freedom.

However, the escapee's mind was still addled by a pain that clogged their thoughts, and their body still felt so numb and unfamiliar. Despite the annoying sensations of a headache, they struggled to move their body forward. Their legs felt like jelly, their arms refused to wipe the sweat from their brow, and yet their mind was clouded in a stinging mist, preventing them from analyzing their own body. Their inspection of themself , and their introspection of their mind and emotions would have to wait. A deeper need pulled them out of their prison and toward what seemed to be the only exit out of this dank and dark cavern.

Within a few moments, they found themself in a forested area, which was some distance away from a faraway shoreline. The salt in the air signified that it may have been an ocean. There was a faraway building that seemed red, jagged, and spewed black smoke into the sky, located further down the shoreline. It had a small dock that had several boats tied to the piers. A strange field of fungus seems to be growing in the shadows of the trees just behind the docks and red building.

However, such observations were dulled by a more deeper need. This need deep within them was... hunger. Yes. They are hungry. They needed to eat food, lest they would allow the fog in their mind to continue. If this hunger remained, the fuzziness in their mind would indwell and persist.

They wandered to a nearby tree that seemed to have some fruiting growths. They were purplish in color, but they were too hungry to care. Alas, they were out of their reach, no matter how often they jumped upon the bark of the tree to climb it.

Odd. They could have sworn they had hands to climb with.

However, a clumsy bird glided through the air and knocked into the fruit high above them. Two fell down and landed next to them. Food. At long last.

They engulfed them into their maw with little care. They had a bitter taste upon entry, and the very core of the fruit was chalky and unpleasant. But the attack to their taste buds gave way to an aftertaste of watery juiciness unlike any fruit they had ever tasted.

They were immediately greeted by a bird. They looked upon it and saw that its plumage was red and yellow, while its beak took upon a dangerous sharpness. It seemed to shine like a steel blade? It squawked its cry and flapped its wings at them before its sharp talons and a piercing beak pierced through their skin.

They flinched, but... they felt no pain? No, they didn't feel any pain at all. How was this possible? However, the bird was within biting distance, and they took the opportunity to engulf the bird that thought itself as predator to them. The tables turned as the crunch of bones ended the bird's life, its nutrients now serving to replenish them instead.

Satisfied with their meal, they turned toward the ocean. They would have headed toward the sea, were it not for a new distraction that both surprised them and relinquished much of their dull trance. Three pink gems littered the ground right behind themself. They didn't know where they came from, but they sparkled under the light of day.

They blinked and stared at these pink gems.

... No, they were not gems at all.

They recognized what they are.

They were plorts.

Pink plorts.

Created from a pink slime.

But where was the slime that made them?

Suddenly, their mind was filled with slight panic.

This panic suddenly became awareness.

Self-awareness.

They focused on their arms, their legs, and their muscles. This body was not the one they remembered as theirs. The body they remembered piloting proudly was human. But as of this moment, they did not have a human body. They now had a gelatinous orb of amorphous liquid as a body.

They were a slime, from the Far, Far Range.

"Aww, crap..."

* * *

**Prelude 1**

* * *

A man in a business suit sat behind a desk, silently smoking an imported cigar. His hair was a natural dirty blond that was styled in a short wave, and his pale freckled skin and face showed deeper signs of age. Though he was reaching the late stages of his middling adulthood, his eyes were a dark brown, which shined with a sharp intellect.

The room was dark, and lousy with the smoke he exhaled. His tired eyes and wrinkled frown was easily masked by his professionalism. It was clear he had lost some sleep due to certain... events. Migraines upon migraines had assailed the corporation he worked for, but at least they had a lot of money and resources to throw around. However, his, and by extension the corporation's, biggest migraine would finally be addressed at last.

The placard on his desk read:

'Ryan McDougutt

Co-Executive to the 7Zee Corporation'

A woman's voice emanated from his desk phone. [Mr. McDougutt. A man by the name of Investigator Brent Stormford is here to see you.]

Ryan pressed a button on his office phone. "Send him in, Darla."

A minute had passed before a thin, brown-coated man opened and walked through his office door. He placed his deer cap on a nearby hat rack before turning to Ryan and sighing towards him. He was a younger middle-aged man of messy red hair with fair colored skin, but had deep amber eyes. "Chutes and ladders, there you are! I was starting to worry that I might get lost in this building!"

Ryan nodded back at the investigator with a sagely smile. "I apologize for inviting you here under such unusual circumstances, but our corporation tends to have a habit of valuing secrecy when appropriate. Do come in, Mr. Stormford. Once you get yourself comfortable, we can begin with our meeting."

Brent nodded as he went to the chair in front of Ryan's desk and settled himself into it. He then gestured to Ryan. "So. You got me in an appointment to meet you here in your office. In the 7Zee Corporation Administration building, no less. I have a feeling this is going to be one of those 'special cases' you want me to look into. Let me guess... Do you perhaps suspect your corporation will succumb to corporate sabotage once again?"

Ryan chuckled and waved dismissively at Brent. "Hah hah hah, no no! Nothing like that. Though it is true that your 'private investigator work' has upended some insalubrious moles that would have wounded our corporation's long-term goals."

Brent nodded. "I'm aware of my past experience with catching the spy in the midst of your corporate dogma, Mr. McDougutt. I just don't understand why you need someone of my caliber to assist in a missing persons case."

Ryan quickly hushed Brent with a hiss as he placed a finger to his lips. He then reached a hand toward his desk phone. "Darla, hold all my calls please."

[Yes sir.] The woman's voice replied.

Ryan sighed. "Computer, close all windows and blinds. Disrupt any communication signals going in and out of this room." A beep of confirmation responded to Ryan's command as the room became even darker.

Brent raised an eyebrow at Ryan curiously. "Hm. You're acting like this might involve something more than just corporate sabotage."

Ryan dampened his cigar on an ashtray and folded his hands together. "I'm afraid it isn't as simple as that, Brent. Er... May I call you Brent?"

Brent shrugged. "Only if I can call you Ryan."

"You may." Ryan nodded. "This isn't just an ordinary missing persons case, I'm afraid. Ever heard of the planet called the Far, Far Range?"

Brent huffed and nodded. "You'd have to live under a rock to not hear the name. It's the slime world where the 7Zee Corporation gets much of their resources from. It's also the planet that the slime ranchers you hired get sent to. However, I doubt that the Far, Far Range, that's a thousand light-years away from Planet Earth I might add, has anything to do with the investigation you hired me to look into."

"You'd be surprised how a couple of months can change technological progress, Brent." Ryan said. He accessed his computer, which then produced a hologram between himself and Brent. Three faces was displayed before Brent. "You will be joining three other people during your investigation." Ryan pointed to the grizzled man that seemed to have a permanent scowl, deep blue eyes and a bald head. Just from looking at his olive-tan face, Brent could tell he was tough. "The man on your left will be your search team's bodyguard. He's a war veteran that has much experience in protecting important assets. He was shifted to guard duty for a time, only to get back on the saddle as a mercenary for hire. He goes by the name of Robert Rodman. Our corporation spent quite a bit of money hiring him."

He then pointed to the second person, which was a black haired, pale-skinned woman that seemed to be in her late 40's. She had a pair of glasses that was rimmed with stripes of light and dark gray over her gray eyes. Her black hair was affixed into a ponytail, but a few stray hairs were allowed to remain loose over her face, which seemed to accentuate her slender cheekbones somewhat. "This is our archeologist, Dr. Samantha 'Slammy Sammy' Samarin. She knows the lay of the land like the back of her hand. Her research into the various ruins of the Far, Far Range has revealed many mysterious histories of this world, though much of it still remains shrouded. She will help your investigation team navigate the terrain of the Far, Far Range."

And finally, he pointed to the third person. This person had long blond hair tied up in two buns. She had fair skin, green eyes, and a round face with pronounced lips. She seemed to be around the same age as Brent. "And this is Dr. Tiffany Glasstalon. She is a scientist, biologist, and researcher for many of our R & D divisions. She mainly excels in xenobiology in regards to the slime natives of the Far, Far Range. Hell, she made extensive contributions to filling out our 'slimepedia' entries regarding the slimes, making her our chief expert on them. Don't let her in-depth ramblings of the slimes intimidate you, though. She's very passionate about them."

"Between Dr.s Samarin and Glasstalon, they will provide extensive knowledge of the land and its inhabitants, providing you and Mr. Rodman any answers you might need during your stay at the Far, Far Range. If at any point you meet upon any dangers in your way, Mr. Rodman will provide assistance when requested. He will do his job protecting you and his teammates. All you have to do is find a certain person of our interest." Ryan concluded, turning off the holograms.

Brent stared at Ryan with a stern stare. "... So wait. You're uh... You're really gonna send me to the Far, Far Range just to find someone? Doesn't it normally take a year to get from this planet to there?"

Ryan smiled. "As I said, you'd be surprised how a couple of months can change technological progress, Brent." Ryan accessed his computer again. Another hologram was displayed before Brent, only to reveal a warp teleporter of complicated make. Ryan gestured to it. "Our investment into Warp Tech unleashed unlimited applications, namely in rapid distribution of resources. Ever since this technology became available to us, it was mainly used by the slime ranchers of the Far, Far Range as a means to save time in their busy days. However, as the technology continued to develop, Warp Tech had the capacity to not only transport people and resources to anywhere in the region, but also to the opposite sides of the planet! In response to this, the 7Zee corporation has created a teleporter capable of transporting anyone, or anything, from here, to there, in an instant."

Brent nodded. "Hm. Fancy tech that. But uh... How is this not available to the public yet?"

Ryan sighed. "The Executives, their Co-Executives, and even the Chief Executive withhold public knowledge of the Transcosmic Teleporter. Its an experimental prototype, yes, but a lot of work and passion had went into the creation of this device. And as it so happens, its sister has been built and activated only a few days ago. Several tests were carried out to ensure that there were no hiccups." Ryan stood up from his chair and placed his hands on his desk. "Here's the thing, Brent. You have three options. The first option is to take a ride in a spaceship, where you'd be put into suspended animation in a hibernation pod for a year. However, the investigation team you are assigned to would grow a year older. It's one of the more safer options."

Brent raised an eyebrow. "And options two and three?"

Ryan held up two fingers. "Option two involves going through the Transcosmic Teleporter. You will complete the roster of the investigation team much quickly, and the investigation will begin sooner. However, we would have to create a convincing cover story for your arrival on the Far, Far Range, and have you make a solemn promise to withhold information of the Transcosmic Teleporter device from the public." Ryan then held up three fingers. "And option three is you can decline the investigation. This is the safest option available to you."

Brent paused before humming to himself. Once he got his thoughts together, he leaned forward. "I'm getting the impression that this job will involve some collateral damage to myself and my team."

Ryan sighed. "You're quite correct. The native inhabitants of the Far, Far Range slowly became more aggressive as time went on. Feral slimes are more abundant, Tarr outbreaks are occurring often, and slime ranchers are having a more difficult time wrangling slimes. I believe that our production quota would start dipping more severely if this trend continues."

"Hence why you decided to give the investigation team a bodyguard." Brent added.

Ryan nodded. "Indeed."

Brent gestured to Ryan. "So who are we searching for?"

"A slime rancher." Ryan answered plainly.

Brent's expression hardened. "... Pardon?"

"A slime rancher." Ryan repeated.

Brent paused. "... Aren't most slime ranchers employed to work with the 7Zee corporation supposed to have excellent health and insurance coverage?"

Ryan sighed. "Perhaps it's best I explain who we are trying to find, and why we are eager to get her back." Ryan summoned the holographic images again, only this time showing the face of a completely new girl. She was an adolescent, almond skin colored girl with bright and lively eyes, and a single band-aid adorning her left cheek. Oddly, her hair was a bright turquoise, possibly dyed, and done in a single large bun on the back of her head, where a small tuft of hair poked up on the top of her head. Ryan gestured toward the holographic face. "This is the person that had went missing six months ago. She is knows as Ms. Beatrix LeBeau, and the deed to the Dry Reef Ranch was passed onto her with the blessings of a fellow slime rancher. This fellow rancher, known as Hobson Twillgers, was considered a legend among the other ranchers of the Far, Far Range. Ms. Lebeau is well-liked among the rancher community, since her property was well known to be rich in plentiful resources that she didn't mind to exchange. However, six months ago, she disappeared. That was around the time the slimes of the Far, Far Range became aggressive."

Brent tilted his head at the face being shown to him. "Well, you answered the who. However, I still need an answer to the why."

Ryan nodded. "We don't have any solid information yet, but some have put forth theories explaining that her disappearance may have been the cause that affected, and aggravated, the slimes."

"Theories?" Brent puzzled aloud.

"Previous search parties have concluded that the Ancient Ruins was the last place Ms. Lebeau was visiting. Her Vacpack issued a distress beacon from her last known location, but the Automated Rancher Recovery Robots reported that they couldn't find her or her Vacpack. The search parties conducted a thorough search of her estate and the terrain surrounding it, but had little luck. Unfortunately, they couldn't be able to make any further progress some days later. Especially when the aggressive slime behavior began." Ryan explained.

"I heard from the grapevine that slimes are supposed to become less dangerous when you feed them." Brent said.

Ryan sighed and rolled his eyes. "I am aware. However, the search parties sent were nonetheless thwarted and pushed away from the Ancient Ruins. As you might expect, things have only gotten worse for our search for Ms. LeBeau as time went on. Half of the islands now have slimes that seem to revolt against us, it would seem!"

Brent placed his hand on his chin and hummed in curiosity. "... So if I chose to go by spaceship, or decided to decline joining up with the investigation team, the slimes on the Far, Far Range will get progressively more surely as time goes by?"

Ryan sat back down and leaned forward. "This is a window of opportunity we can't ignore. If we procrastinate, even a little bit, then the slimes all around the Far, Far Range would continue to grow more hostile. Even to the point where our economy and production of plorts is greatly affected. Do you see where I am going with this?"

"Yeah." Brent replied. "If you send me in to meet the investigation team and start investigating early, then your plort production would continue like it was, and without any fuss. Send me there any later, and your economy would suffer much more greatly, damaging profits all around. If I decline to absolve your missing persons case... well... The Far, Far Range's human inhabitants will have to be more hard-pressed to gather resources from our slime ranches and make their quota."

Ryan pointed to Brent. "I will understand if you don't want to subject yourself to an experimental Warp Tech device. I only say this because our corporation desires to keep this secret from the public, and are well aware of your past assistance to our corporation. However, the slowly growing pandemic of aggressive slimes on the Far, Far Range needs to be stopped, and we believe the answers might lie with Ms. LeBeau, or at the Ancient Ruins. Perhaps even both." Ryan then moved a hand closer to Brent. "So what do you say?"

Brent smiled as he leaned closer and shook Ryan's hand. "Oh, why not. I always wanted to see the Far, Far Range for myself anyway."

Ryan smiled back. "Very good! Thank you so much, Mr. Stormford! Eh, which reminds me... Before you go through the Transcosmic Teleporter, you'll have to sign some wavers first."

Brent stopped smiling. "... Are the wavers for when I use the device? Like if it starts to malfunction while I'm traveling through it?"

"Well, yes, but also no." Once the handshake is done, Ryan smiled brightly. "On the bright side, nobody has turned into a slime coming out of the gate before now!" Ryan joked.

Brent chuckled. "Pfft! Yeah! Imagine my luck if I somehow turned into a pink little jello cup!"

Brent and Ryan then shared a bout of laughter with each other.

* * *

**A/N: Has anyone made a Slime Rancher x Warhammer 40K crossover before?**


	2. An Alien World

**An Alien World**

* * *

There was very little that a slime from the Far, Far Range could do on its own. All slimes ever could do is eat and look cute, but that often depended on what breed of slime they were. Pink slimes were the most abundant slime of the Far, Far Range, and their bright red hue was due in part to the pigment they absorbed from the native coral of their homeworld.

There was one slime in particular that contained a human consciousness, but had their body transformed into a slime. Or perhaps they were reborn as a slime? Such semantics bothered this slime to a great degree. However, the slime was also concerned with other matters.

The slime looked down at the ground with wide eyes. "Okay Brent. Just... Just stay calm. Yeah. There's... There's no need to cry out in fear. I can... I can... Oh chutes and ladders, what **can **I do? Maybe... Maybe I should try and remember how I got here? Yeah. Yeah, that's a start."

Brent, the newly transformed pink slime, slid toward a nearby trunk of a tree to begin remembering his recent past. His mind tried to focus on the blobs of disorganized memory that was in his mind, but found little to decipher. He remembered... Being inside of a building? No. It was... It was outdoors, perhaps? He remembered going through a portal. ... Or a teleporter gate of some kind? There was yelling. Brent saw something within the teleporter's gate. It looked like something, or someone, he knew? He tried to grab them. There was a flash of pain, followed by the next thing he had woken up to, suffocating darkness and hunger.

However, his mind was too muddled to make any sense with. Brent wasn't even sure if he still even had a mind at all. From what he learned of slimes during his stay on the Far, Far Range, slimes were exceedingly simple creatures. To Brent, they were described as a complex multicellular mass that acted in unison as a single celled organism, sometimes bearing certain abilities if it was a certain breed of slime.

Brent shook his head, or a pink slime equivalent. "Guh. Head is too congested to think straight. I need to find some help. Find some people that can get me back to civilization. ... Why am I talking to myself so much?"

Brent's mind was reminded of that red building he saw earlier. It was jagged in appearance, but smoke usually means a building had life residing within it. Yes, that seemed to make sense to Brent. If he went to that building and knocked on its door, he would then be one step closer to leaving this beachside forest and finding civilization. He was convinced that he would find humanity and rejoin it once more, and perhaps find a way to turn back into a human again.

Brent the Pink Slime slid past various trees and traveled along the shore of the beach, determined to meet the owner of the red jagged building. It seemed to be early in the morning as the sun was rising over the horizon of the ocean. That would mean he was somewhere on the east side of an island. Or it could have been late afternoon, and he was on the west side of an island. Since Brent could 'somehow' feel the cool air on the surface of his... slime... he assumed that it was morning.

Thinking about it, Brent realized that moving around as a slime was much different compared to walking as a human. For one, humans usually kept themselves balanced and upright as they used two legs to repeatedly step in any horizontal direction in rhythmic motion. But as a slime, it was more akin to... How would Brent put it? ... Moving forward on a slug foot? Or perhaps it was more like his entire lower torso was suddenly turned into an omnidirectional treadmill that moved himself around his environment. He could turn, move forward, backwards, and even strafe in circles with ease. Rather than exert force with bipedal legs, he could 'will' himself to move along the ground in this new form of his. Any small obstical, like a rock or twig, would simply be crawled, slithered, and slipped over without any fuss. Certain inclines might make it impossible for any slime to navigate, since their liquid-smooth bodies would make them slide downhill.

After some time had passed, Brent finally approached the red jagged structure. Up close, Brent could see that the building was much less a building, but more an amalgamation of junk and metal that was welded into the shape of a makeshift building. If Brent had to guess, it functioned as either a fishing shack, or a lighthouse. He could see a pile of fishing nets next to a pile of empty crab cages, and buckets that once contained bait, while various fishing poles and fishing hooks were lain messily on the side of the building. Also, it had a door frame that was enormous in size. It made Brent become self-conscious of his new smaller height. To add another detail to Brent's list of observations, he couldn't help but feel an ominous sensation emanating from the giant red door. He could almost hear a deep grumbling coming from within the structure itself, but Brent couldn't tell what it is.

After some hesitation, Brent approached the door. ... ... ... He then remembered he didn't have hands to knock with.

Brent sighed as he laid his head onto the door, defeated. A human's best tools were their hands. A well-designed prosthetic appendage had the capacity to create tools, and even more prosthetic appendages, but without any hands to create the appendages in the first place, there was no way to manipulate the environment or create useful tools.

... But this lack of hands didn't stop Brent for long, or deter his motivation to find help.

He decided to jump onto the door, using his own small body in an attempt to attract the attention of any inhabitants inside the building. He also began to shout to the inhabitants that may be within. "Hey! Anybody inside?! My name is Investigator Brent Stormford and... Well, it's hard to explain, but I need help getting back to civilization! Preferably to any building of the 7Zee Corporation Far, Far Range Branches! There's been a terrible accident, and I need to find a representative from the corporation! Please! I would like your assistance!"

"OI! 'OO IZ OUT 'DER?"

The heavy red door swung open suddenly and violently, which knocked into Brent and launched him into the fishing net pile. Brent felt he sustained no injuries from the giant door, though he was disoriented somewhat. However, through the net he landed in, he saw something that terrified him beyond belief.

* * *

**Prelude 2**

* * *

Brent Stormford was brought into a room that had walls painted in a laboratory white color, its halls filled with different kinds of technology. All of the devices, tools and gizmos he could see were quite alien to him and were attended by a scientist, researcher, or inventor. He wasn't very savvy when it comes to this new-age technology, despite that the most popular name for this technology in particular is often referred as 'slime science'. However, it was **the **technology used by the 7Zee Corporation, and the Corporation made the greatest leaps and bounds of technological progress when they unlocked Warp Tech.

The reason why it was called 'slime science' in the first place was due to slime plorts being applied to their technology and sciences. After extensively researching the slime plorts, and using some human ingenuity, they discovered a way to combine the plorts together to create specialized gadgets capable of fulfilling certain functions that served useful purposes.

But creating gadgets wasn't the only use for the plorts. Apparently, the slime plorts were also used for a plethora of other applications. Brent was quite surprised when he heard that certain types of plorts were used for creating special metal alloys, which were forged and molded into the armored hulls of spaceships!

"Follow me this way, Brent. As I understand, it is quite easy to get lost in this building." Ryan McDougutt said, leading the way and gesturing for Brent to follow.

Brent turned away from a Super Hydro Turret that was being tested. It was firing at a moving scareslime target. He nodded and smiled bashfully. "Sorry. I seem to forget how easily distracting these gadget tests are." Brent said before following Ryan again.

Ryan smiled. "Oh I understand. I heard that last time you were here, you spent an hour watching our coworkers playing basketball with a slimeball hoop gadget."

Brent chuckled. "Yeah, that made for an interesting game, what with the hoops turning around and moving up and down!"

As Ryan and Brent traveled through the gadget testing facility, they met upon some guards guarding a door. Once Ryan had given them his credentials and explained that Brent was allowed through, the guards parted to let them pass. Ryan and Brent went down hallway after hallway with every corner they took, giving Brent the impression that they were passing by laboratories that was conducting tests, either in their early development stages or were secret projects that the 7Zee Corporation haven't revealed yet. Brent would assume the latter.

Once they reached down one final hallway, Ryan opened a door that lead to a particularly large chamber that contained a large circular device in the direct center of the room. It was huge, and easily the size of a small house. Brent's eyes looked it up and down several times before pointing at it. "... Let me guess. Is that the uh..."

"Transcosmic Teleporter? Yes." Ryan answered, gazing up at the large device with a proud smile. "It actually happens to be one of our best prototypes to date. I expect that in the next year, we'll be able to shrink it down into a more compact size. By our calculations, the Transcosmic Teleporter will cut down fuel costs for space travel, and enable a seamless transition of resources from the Far, Far Range to Earth." Ryan then turned to Brent. "However, this will be the first time in our corporation's history that we would transport a human earthing to the Far, Far Range nigh instantaneously."

Brent looked up at the large device again and whistled. "Would definitely beat sleeping in a pod for a year, that's for sure."

Ryan then turned around to look at Brent. "So? When do you want to depart? The teleporter can deliver you to the Far, Far Range right now."

Brent faced Ryan with wide eyes. "... Right now? I haven't even packed my toothbrush yet!"

Ryan chuckled as he gestured to Brent. "That's alright. We can wait until you can get your affairs in order. However, the Transcosmic Teleporter eats up a lot of energy as it connects to its sister device on the Far, Far Range. Thankfully, with a healthy supply of rad plorts, quantum plorts, and strange diamonds powering up the device on our end, we'll be able to keep the teleporter open for about six hours before we need close it again. We can just as easily get in contact with our man on the other side at any time to arrange a time to meet and introduce you to the Far, Far Range. When do you think you can leave Earth?"

Brent hummed to himself for a few seconds before giving his answer. "I think the earliest I can leave is tomorrow morning."

Ryan smiled broadly. "Excellent! I'll inform our contact to expect your arrival in his lab in the Far, Far Range after the teleporter is activated. He shall expect you to arrive on the other side of the Transcosmic Teleporter tomorrow."

Brent smiled back. "Right. Should be a pretty exciting moment when you open that door, yeah?"

Ryan's expression then became flat as he pointed at Brent. "But remember! No one is supposed to know about the Transcosmic Teleporter. Which reminds me." Ryan then brought out a electrical pad and showed Brent some unsigned legal agreement. "I will need you to sign this waver before you leave this facility."

Brent stopped smiling. "Ah. The waver thing. Why do I need to sign it anyway?"

"It's just a formality." Ryan explained simply.

"Care to extrapolate on that?" Brent asked.

Ryan sighed. "Oh it's just a liability claim. This waver just explains that if you divulge any information of the Transcosmic Teleporter to public knowledge, then we would legally have to decline any further services you would provide to us."

"Ah. Which is just a fancy way of saying I won't get paid if I don't go along with this, or if I snitched and told anyone or everyone about that thing." Brent bluntly put it, pointing at the large teleporter in the center of the chamber.

"Precisely." Ryan said.

Brent sighed as he signed the waver. "Right. I guess I'll see you tomorrow... When?"

Ryan smiled. "Come by anytime between six o'clock and eleven thirty in the morning. The Transcosmic Teleporter will be open when you arrive."

* * *

**Later**

* * *

There was once a time undersea labs were viewed as lairs for villainous mad scientists in some cheesy B-rated movies. Such movies either included action films with secret agents that thwarted their mad scientist adversaries, or horror films where the villain in question created an invincible creature that proceeded to destroy a port city. However, there is one undersea lab, located underneath a rather slimy sea, that housed a brilliant scientist. Perhaps a scientist that had eclectic quirks that might make him stand out amongst the crowd, but he was brilliant nonetheless.

Some time ago, this scientist paid a fortune to build his workshop under the sea, that acted as both laboratory and slime ranch. Its plots of land were often used to house slimes or produce crops that fed said slimes, though the scientist was much more focused on understanding the nature and evolution of the slimes themselves. Another fortune was spent in building the greatest gem in his undersea lab, which he used to predict and calculate the evolution of the slimes of the Far, Far Range.

However, his time was divided between researching the slimes' mounting aggression and cooperating with the 7Zee Corporation. A house-sized teleporter sat in the center of his workshop, which had forced him to deactivate his light-bridge for the time being. However, in order to activating this enormous machine, his other research projects would have to be temporarily deactivated just to enable this device to be turned on. Compared to his other projects, the Transcosmic Teleporter was a masterwork of his design, which he believed would no doubt accelerate the advances of Slime Science to new dizzying heights.

The Transcosmic Teleporter issued a series of beeps, telling the scientist that lived in this undersea laboratory that the executives of the 7Zee Corporation branch on Earth wished to connect their teleporters together. Just as well. At least the scientist agreed to activate the teleporter on his end at the allotted time. His mind was immersed into several calculations, which helped to connect the Transcosmic Teleporter in his lab to its sister on Earth.

The large device hummed with life. Once the teleporter was bridged to another device similar to itself across a distance of a thousand light-years, a figure passed through it shortly after. This newcomer appeared to wore a brown coat and a deer hat, carrying a large travel bag on his back. He looked around studiously as he materialized from the mouth of the teleporter. "... So this is the Far, Far Range? I expected it to be more... slimier than this."

The scientist walked up to his new guest. "GREETINGS!"

The newcomer flinched with a shrill yelp, obviously startled from the presence of the scientist.

"I HAVE BEEN EXPECTING YOU. THE 7ZEE CORPORATION HAS MESSAGED ME THAT THEY WOULD BE SENDING SOMEONE THROUGH THE TRANSCOSMIC TELEPORTER AT THIS AGREED TIME. YOU MUST BE BRENT STORMFORD. ALLOW ME TO GREET MYSELF. I AM- ..."

An awkward pause passed between Brent and this scientist.

"... WHY ARE YOU STARING AT ME LIKE...?" The scientist then realized his error. "OH!" He reached up to his neck.

Brent was surprised to see a face being revealed right before him once the green bubble around the scientist's head vanished. After another awkward pause, Brent gestured to the scientist. "... I guess you must be one of the contacts I'm supposed to meet? I'm afraid that the co-exec on Earth failed to tell me about you."

"Sorry. I often forget my immersion field can dissuade most people. But it is useful at times when I'm busy with my research. My name is Viktor Humphries." He said, reaching out a hand for a polite handshake.

Brent cautiously took the offered handshake. Brent noted that this man had golden-brown skin with brown hair styled in spiked dreads. He couldn't see his eyes well, since green goggles covered them, which were designed to have horizontal pupils. He was adorned in a stylistic laboratory suit which had a raised neck collar, which had a handheld device hanging from his chest. Brent weakly smiled at Viktor. "Apology accepted. However, I too might have to apologize for inconveniencing you like this. What with using your Transcosmic Teleporter to get to here from Earth in record time."

Viktor chuckled. "Yes, I'm certain a lot of people would jump at the chance to use a teleporter, instead of choosing to be at the mercy of a stasis pod for a year!" Viktor's expression suddenly softened. "But I am curious. Are you here to investigate the disappearance of a Beatrix LeBeau?"

Brent's face hardened slightly. "Yes I am. Do you know her?"

Viktor nodded. "Before she disappeared, she helped me with researching some flaws I detected in my holographic recreation of the Far, Far Range. It was a sort of slime simulation. a 'Slimeulation', if you will."

Brent hummed and nodded in acknowledgement. "Clever wordplay aside, I would like to ask you a few questions about Ms. LeBeau. If you have the time to spare, that is."

Viktor sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry to inconvenience your investigation, Investigator Stormford, but a teleporter gate has been activated. I have a short window of time to conduct business with the representatives of the 7Zee Corporation's corporate branch on Earth. That, and I believe there are people on this world that are willing to meet your acquaintance."

Brent slowly nodded at Viktor. "I see. Well, if there is a point in time you are free, I'd like to meet you again and ask some questions about Ms. LeBeau and how you came to know her."

Viktor's smile softened into a frown. "... Perhaps later. You can come by after I have finished my business here. However, I do have a little time to elucidate a few things about her. Do you have a minute?"

Brent paused, but then gestured at Viktor. "Alright. I have a minute."

Viktor looked at the ground in thought. "... Miss LeBeau was a very spirited rancher among us. When she assisted me in my research, my initial expectations of her were... completely unfounded. Even when we made exchanges from time to time, she eventually made me realize that the universe is capable of surprising you. Though her contribution to my research made me rethink ways to upgrade my slime simulation, I believed there was academic value to the bug reports she collected for me. In my personal opinion as her friend, she held a spark that has the power to enlighten people, and make them open up to others."

Brent nodded. "You make it sound like she means a lot to you."

Viktor chuckled. "That's the thing, Investigator Stormford. Our mutual business just turned into a friendship as time went on." Viktor's expression then became serious. "However, I also fear for Beatrix's well being. The slimes of the Far, Far Range have became increasingly aggressive, and I worry the thought of her being caught someplace where the Automated Rancher Recovery Robots cannot reach." Viktor then sighed. "I believe that is all the time I can spare. I need to get back to my prior business." Viktor then pointed behind himself. "My personal teleporter with take you to the Dry Reef Ranch, which belongs to Beatrix. I believe your investigation team is waiting for you there."

Brent nodded at Viktor and waved goodbye. "Good to hear. I'll see if I can come back at another time. Thank you for bringing me here."

Viktor waved goodbye back at Brent as he left. Once Brent had left, Viktor turned his attention to the Transcosmic Teleporter. As he gazed on the device, he looked at the power supply on a terminal connecting to the Transcosmic Teleporter.

His expression turned to shock. "What?! What happened to the energy reserves?! I thought I had six hours of time, but my display says I now have 3 hours?! Wait... Two hours?! ... Wait... No... These aren't hours. These are... These are **minutes?!**"

Viktor looked up at the Transcosmic Teleporter in horror. Apparently, the universe had another surprise in store.

* * *

**A/N: Well of course I wrote Viktor having the other Transcosmic Teleporter. He had the energy to power the Slimeulation, so it makes a modicum of sense that he could use the same energy to connect Earth to the Far, Far Range.  
**


	3. Green Giants

**Green Giants**

* * *

A bipedal beast lumbered out of the giant door frame after it nearly kicked the door down. Once it came into the daylight, Brent could see its monstrous form fully.

This beast had hulking muscles that was contained by taught, leathery green skin. It walked with a hunched form that nearly made its knuckles drag across the ground. It seemed to wear a covering of metal that served as its armor, while it carried a crude, heavy, and sharp sword capable of cleaving many things in half, or giving tetanus to any victims that somehow survived a hit from the weapon. The weapon, armor, and skin was covered by many scars, perhaps from fighting with some beast more terrible than it. It had a jaw containing dangerously sharp teeth, and two large teeth that tusked upward in an underbite. Moreover, it had beady eyes that was a sickly red color which seemed to exude murderous intent. Its facial expression was one of annoyance and violence.

It looked left and right slowly as it scanned its environment. After a few seconds passed it began to growl out at the offender that knocked on his door. "Kome on out, 'umie. I know I heard yer squak'n at ma door. Might as well showz yourself."

Brent was too terrified to do anything. All he could do was watch this monster in his fear-induced paralysis.

The brows on this monster furrowed. "Alright den, how about dis? If I ask yer real polite like to kome out, den I promise I won't chop both yer legs off. Sound fair?"

Silence answered the giant green monster. Brent was not about to acquiesce this creature's request. Besides, what if this monster found out that brent had no legs to chop off? That might make it more angry!

The beast then roared out in a shout. "YOU'RE MAK'N ME ANGRY, 'UMIE! IF YA DON'T KOME OUT RIGHT NOW, DEN IZ GONNA FETCH MA GITFINDA AN' FIND ME A GIT DAT'S GONNA GET HIS LEGS CHOPPED OFF!"

Brent would have pissed his pants if he had a bladder. Or pants.

The green giant snarled all around itself . "Fine. Konsida 'dat yer last warn'n from me. Once I find ya, I'z gonna chop both yer legs an use em as fish bait." It turned around and headed back to its residence, only to stop for a brief second. It groaned in exasperation as it palmed his face. "Wait a minute. Zog it ta bits, I forgot 'dat Grashnik took ma gitfinda." It turned around and inspected its surroundings again, this time walking towards Brent and with a gnarled smile on its face. "No matta. I'll find yer 'da ol fashioned way. Us'n ma peepaz."

The green giant rummaged through the collection of fishing equipment that was all around Brent. Second after second went by as Brent held his breath, anticipating the moment that this monster would find him. Brent dreaded the thought of what this monstrously large green monster would do to him if it discovered him hiding within its fishing nets. Such a powerfully strong giant could easily crush Brent with just its bare hand!

"Gorggat, wot are yer do'n look'n throo our fish'n equipment?"

Brent slowly turned to find another monster Brent had never seen before. It was much smaller than the green giant, but it was hunched over and had gangly limbs. What it lacked in tusked teeth, it had a long nose that was tapered to a point. It wore tattered red cloth for its clothing while it carried a sack over its shoulder. It had several knives holstered beneath its clothing.

The green giant, supposedly named Gorggat, gestured to the newcomer by pressing a finger to his lips. "Shut yer spitt'n gob, ya grot. 'Der's a 'umie around ere!"

The littler green thing, that Brent would assume would be Gorggat's servant or slave, tilted its head. "A 'umie? Around ere? But Big Boss Bonebita said 'der ain't supposed ta be any 'umiez on dis planet!"

Gorggat snarled as he continued looking for humans supposedly hidden in his pile of fishing gear. "Well whateva Bonebita said, 'e's wrong. I heard a 'umie jus now, squak'n at ma front door a minute ago!"

The smaller green creature chuckled. "Are ya sure it wasn't jus 'da wind a minute ago?"

Gorggat looked behind himself once more, this time his patience wearing incredibly thin. "I'll stomp yer head 'n if yer keep teas'n me like dat." Gorggat then sighed as he exhausted his search trying to find any humans in the pile of fishing equipment. "... I guess da 'umie ran away when I wasn't look'n. Grashnik iz not gonna live dis down if 'e hears dis."

"There will be time ta tell storiez about hear'n fings 'n da wind. Gretchin kame back wit' some good stuff found from 'da mushroom fields!" The smaller green creature said, throwing a sack down from his shoulder and opening it. Brent assumed that this smaller green creature was supposedly named Gretchin.

Gorggat walked up to Gretchin and inspected his haul. He looked inside, but his expression soured. "Wot's dis?" He reached into Gretchin's bag and pulled out what looked like a bloody potato, looking at Gretchin accusingly.

Gretchin seemed to cower before Gorggat. "Please, Gorggat! It was all gretchin kould find! Snotlings aren't gett'n gud at find'n da best eats 'n da da fields lately! Dey keeps gett'n kilt an' eaten by da choppa birds! Dey sometimes hunt snotlings for sport too! Keeps kutt'n off dere limbs an' pull'n dere heads off just for fun!"

Gorggat threw the bloody potato to the ground and reached for Gretchin and his haul. Gorggat hoisting Gretchin up by his neck. "You're whin'n too much, Grot! An' ya know wot? I fink it's time we start us'n otha types uv bait for once! GROT FLAVORED BAIT!" He roared a laugh.

"NOOOOO~!" Gretchin scrabbled and scratched at Gorggat's meaty arms, but was incapable of freeing himself from his hold.

Gorggat and Gretchin were now inside the jagged red building, and Brent could hear slightly muted screams of fear, which was slightly drowned out by the manic and bloodthirsty laughter of a large sociopath. Brent stayed still for a minute before he decided to slowly slip out of the net that saved his life. "Oh... That... Was... Close." He whispered to himself.

His eyes settled on the strange green spud with the blood on it. It was quite strange looking, since it was the weirdest potato he had ever seen before. Despite the questionable coloration it had, Brent couldn't help but feel drawn to it for some reason. Was he hungry already? He only ate two fruits and a bird, yet that felt like an hour ago. He was looking at the spud with curious hunger. Should he?

But before he could mull over his decision any longer, the wind shifted. He caught its scent and didn't even realize it. It was a strange combination of things. Like meat and mushrooms mixed together somehow? His body reacted to the scent and he consumed the bloody spud in one bite. It tasted raw and coppery, but it also tasted like a musky vegetable. It was the strangest combination of flavors he had ever tasted!

But Brent regretted consuming that spud, as he felt something becoming produced from him. Unfortunately, by consuming the strange spud, Brent had unintentionally created a plort. A thought dawned in his mind. If Gorggat discovered that Brent had left a plort here, then it would be likely that he would track Brent and hunt him down. Brent decided that he was not going to leave the plort, for he knew it would give the green giant a reason to go search for Brent.

Sadly, Brent had no hands to pick up the plort. Luckily, he could push it around using only his own body.

Brent tried to be as quiet as he can, despite the 'clink' sounds the plort would make when it was knocked into a stick or rock. However, he would also have to return to the other plorts he made earlier and hide them too, or else that green giant would discover that he was not alone.

* * *

**Prelude 3**

* * *

It was early in the morning on this planet. The sky was a bright blue, while the horizon was tinged with a neon teal. The ground was comprised of a dead coral that was now a deep orange color, yet all around, there was an abundance of life. It was hard to imagine that this growth formed an impressive shoal a long time ago, when humans had yet to visit the Far, Far Range. As Brent exited the Lab that was shaped like a barn, he took in air with great lungfuls. Never before in his life had he smelled air that was so clean! And so fresh!

After a satisfied exhale, he adjusted his travel backpack and walked on, his sudden wanderlust taking hold.

"Hey ladies. Look. Our investigator is here." A gruff voice said.

Brent paused before turning to look behind himself. He had barely left the Dry Reef Ranch's Lab, yet he could has sworn he heard some voices.

"He looks a little lost. Should we help him?" A different, snooty voice said.

"Well duh. We were paid to help him find our missing rancher. Hey! Up here!" Said another voice, this time sounding more peppy.

Brent looked up and was surprised to see three people on the roof of the Lab. He was surprised to see the three people he was asked to meet were up there. "... What?!"

A blond haired woman with two buns looked down at Brent. "Hi! You must be Investigator Brent Stormford!"

Brent blinked a few times. "... Yes. You must be..."

The blond woman gestured to herself and to her friends. "I'm Dr. Tiffany Glasstalon. However, feel free to call me Tiff! The sourpuss next to me is Sam, and the tough dude next to her is Rob."

The snooty girl rolled her eyes as she brushed her hair out of her face. "Dr. Samantha Samarin, actually."

The gruff man sighed and rolled his eyes, wiping the sweat from his bald head. "Robert Rodman. The 'dude', apparently."

"Ah." Brent replied, somehow a little exasperated. "The other members of the investigation team I'm supposed to join with. But uh... one quick question. Why are you all on the roof?"

Robert pointed at Tiffany. "It was her idea. I didn't want to be up here, but she made a convincing argument. Being up in this position does provide me a good view of the land."

"And you?" Brent asked, gesturing to Samantha.

Samantha sighed tiredly. "She wouldn't shut up unless I came up here with her."

"There was also a Tarr outbreak earlier, which was also why we are up here." Tiffany added.

"Tarr?" Brent asked. He looked around himself quickly, but was glad to find nothing dangerous to him in the immediate area. "I don't see Tarr slimes down here. Or did they move somewhere else?"

Tiffany sighed in relief. "Ah good. If you can't see them down there, then that means they all must have expired by now." She then jumped from the Lab's roof and floated downward, while the thrust of some machine roared as she made her descent.

Once Tiffany made landfall, Brent tilted his head and looked at Tiffany in a curious manner. "Expired?"

Tiffany nodded excitedly. "Yeah! When a slime turns into a Tarr, they have about an hour before they explode into a flash of colorful steam! Of course, there are other ways to deal with the Tarr. The fastest methods is tossing them into an incinerator, throwing or pushing them into the Slime Sea, or dowsing some water on them. You see, when a slime consumes too many plorts, their molecular structures inside of their bodies undergoes a rapid metamorphic change that increases their metabolism to extreme levels. Their heightened metabolisms become so uncontrollable that they will crave any kind of animal in their vicinity, including chickens, ranchers, and even other slimes. However, if they get their mouths on a slime, then they would turn that slime into another Tarr. It's actually an effective way to decrease slime populations, since the slimes can spawn in hundreds of their numbers and make certain areas quite impassible. On the bright side, at least we have a few gadgets that'll get us-"

"Tiffany." Samantha said plainly.

Tiffany looked up at Samantha and paused for a few seconds. "... Oh. Right. I was rambling again, wasn't I?"

Samantha held two fingers close together. "Just a tad."

Robert shook his head as he took his turn to float to the ground. "Before we start our investigation and get this team going, we need to make sure you're kitted up first."

"Kitted? For what?" Brent asked.

Samantha sighed as she too floated after Robert. "My gosh, did you really come to this planet without any preparation? Not even a brochure?"

Brent shrugged. "I'm sorry, but the 7Zee Corporation hired me to find someone that had went missing. Admittedly, if I was informed that I would have to defend myself, I would have brought a weapon."

Samantha chuckled haughtily. "A weapon?! No no no, it doesn't work like that. The 7Zee Corporation doesn't give weapons to anyone living on the Far, Far Range."

Brent stared at Samantha, quite surprised by her reaction when he mentioned to bring a weapon. "... So if you don't have any weapons, what do you use to defend yourselves from the aggressive slimes and the Tarr?"

Robert went up to Brent and patted his shoulder. "We don't use weapons, for one." He then gestured for Brent to follow. "We use the same tools used by the slime ranchers. Guns that shoot projectile weapons simply passes through slimes like molten iron through a thin, solid sheet of warm butter. Freeze them and they'll become immobile 'slimecicles'. That is until they start thawing. However, only most of them would freeze solid. Incinerators, or anything hot enough or containing a strong enough electrical charge, would evaporate a slime instantly. Too bad we don't have the fuel to burn or energy to use, else we'd have flame throwers with us. Sadly, certain breeds of slimes are immune to being cleansed by fire, and we don't have the tech or the means to fashion a Tesla Gun. I did ask the big wigs if we could use weapons that used chemical acids that could limit the slime populations, but they were more concerned about 'pollutants having negative effects on the environment' or whatever. I think they're more concerned about the slimes adapting to the acid chemicals and becoming 'Acid Slimes'. Heh. That'd be fun to explain to the big wigs back on Earth."

Brent nodded as he listened to Robert explaining how the weapons of humanity would be ineffective against the Far, Far Range slimes. "But things aught to have changed when the slimes turned aggressive, right? How did the ranchers adapt to them?"

"Easy. With great difficulty." Robert explained. "Despite the big wigs bitching about most ranchers arming themselves to defend against the aggressive slimes on this planet, slime plorts are still vital resources Earth needs. The 7Zee Corporation is probably worried that the slimes might stop making slime plorts one day, all because humanity is adding stress into their environment. You got a holophone with you?"

Brent nodded again and took out his holophone. "Yeah I do. Why you ask?"

"As of now, that holophone is about as effective as a walkie-talkie when it comes to communication range. We don't have cell towers on the Far, Far Range." Robert answered.

Brent stopped to look down at his holophone. "... Well damn. I guess I ain't calling my nan while I'm here."

Samantha went ahead of Brent. "My goodness, you certainly are fresh from Earth, aren't you? You're going to have to learn quick to survive on the Far, Far Range."

Tiffany walked next to Brent. "Don't worry though. We'll get you up to speed. Once we get you your own Vacpack, you'll like it here on the Dry Reef! ... if you don't count the dangerous slimes."

"Oh I'm about as excited to be here as you are." Brent said as he pocketed his holophone.

Brent and company had eventually came upon a settlement that seemed appropriate for a slime rancher to live in. It had been in some disrepair, possibly due to some negligence or that it was attacked by the aggressive slimes. Brent did hear that the slimes were most aggressive in the Dry Reef and in the surrounding areas. Oddly, the land appeared to be dotted with super hydro turrets and what appeared to be black beanbags on metal springs that were painted with sinister faces. Tiffany noticed that Brent was looking at the turrets and black bean bags. "Noticing our defense system?"

Brent pointed at the super hydro turrets. "I know the turrets are effective against the Tarr, but what's with all the fake Tarrs?" He said, pointing at the black bags next.

Tiffany smiled. "Ah, the scareslimes. Those are there for when the aggressive slimes decide to invade us. They'll keep them back. For a bit. Until they become Tarr, that is. That's what the hydro turrets are for!"

"Let's get you inside before the aggressive slimes or the Tarr come around." Samantha said, opening a door to a small domed house. "The 7Zee Corporation has delivered a fourth Vacpack to us. You will have to be trained quickly before you use it."

Brent stepped inside the small house. He looked around and noticed an old smell. It was a smell that usually accompanies houses that hadn't had human life live inside of them for a long time. "Who's house is this?" Brent asked.

"We are in Beatrix LeBeau's habitation unit." Samantha answered.

Brent looked at Samantha with surprise. "Really? Would she mind if we stayed in her house?"

Samantha shook her head. "This is just a temporary arrangement, but that can change once we find Beatrix LeBeau. The nearest settlements owned by other ranchers could provide us with a place to sleep, but the teleporter network has been malfunctioning as of late. In that same vein, using a tent outdoors is dangerous. You would never know what kind of hungry critter might decide to pay you a visit during the night. Ms. LeBeau's habitation unit is our only surefire defense against an invasion of hungry largos and Tarrs."

"Ah. I see." Brent nodded.

"Heard of T-posing?" Robert asked.

Brent turned around and saw that Robert had a spray can pointed at him. "You mean that dumb thing kids used to do in high school?"

Robert rolled his eyes. "Just stick your arms out like you were a scarecrow. Also, close your eyes or this will sting."

Brent paused, but nodded as he lifted his arms and closed his eyes. "Okay, but what are you doing?"

"Making sure the slimes don't eat you up. This anti-adhesive will ensure that you survive from a bite or two." Robert answered.

Brent couldn't help but notice the smell filling his nose. After Robert was done, Brent looked down at his coat. "... Wait a minute! This is cooking spray! Why the hell did you coat me with cooking spray?!"

Tiffany giggled at Brent. "It's because slimes have very sticky tongues! You see, when a slime finds food, their mouth will engulf it, but at the same time their tongues will come in contact with the food too. Their sticky tongues were believed to be an adaptation developed to hold their food in place before being processed for ingestion."

Samantha rolled her eyes. "Which is a nerdier way of saying 'chewed and swallowed'."

Tiffany smiled. "And as the nutrients become absorbed by the slime, the old nutrients and waste byproducts are expelled, which in turn are turned into plorts! Slime ranchers all across the Far, Far Range use non-stick clothing when ranching slimes, but in a pinch they would use cooking sprays to protect themselves from being eaten by some hungry largos, or by the Tarr." Tiffany's smile then faded. "Believe me, Brent. Getting turned into a bunch of plorts is a horrible way to go."

Robert was then finished spraying Brent. "There we are." Once Robert was done, he placed the spray can to the side. "Just a heads up though. Even if your clothes have been sprayed with an anti-adhesive, it doesn't mean you are immune to injury. You'd survive about five chomps before you'd pass out from the pain."

Brent looked at Robert with a raised eyebrow. "Yeesh! Next thing you're gonna tell me is they have teeth!"

"Oh, they do. They're just hidden very well. You can't see them, but you can **feel **them when they bite down on you." Robert replied.

Brent stared at Robert for several seconds. Robert's expression was one of seriousness, which meant he wasn't joking. That, or he experienced the bite of a slime in his unspoken past.

Samantha sighed at Robert this time. "Oh don't scare him." She gestured at a computer terminal. "Your holophone might have limited use while you're here on the Far, Far Range, but this communication terminal will help service your communication needs. Starmail helps ranchers connect with each other, and even to people back on Earth. But before you start messaging people, we'll need to give you one vital piece of tech you'll need during your stay here. We have been instructed by the 7Zee Corporation to give this to you."

Samantha pointed at something that was on the bed. Brent looked at it and saw that it was a high-tech backpack that had some kind of complex device connected to it, while a pair of clean boots was set atop the device. The gun was the vacpack's vacuum gun, which had the capability to suck in small objects using a vortex of sucking wind. For reasons that Brent couldn't understand, the backpack of this device looked **exactly **like the abdomen of a bee. It even had the yellow and black coloration that made it look similar to the pollen-collecting insects! Whether it was a design choice that the 7Zee Corporation had agreed on, or if this was a hand-me-down whose creator had a sense of humor, Brent wouldn't have known.

Brent then took the time to look at the Vackpacks that his current company had. He saw that Robert had a Vackpack that was white and blue. Samantha had a Vacpack that was light and dark gray, which matched her glasses, and Tiffany had her's painted light pink and black. Brent pointed at the Vacpack on the bed. "Why does it look like a bee's butt?"

Robert rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I wasn't too excited when I got my first Vacpack either. But hey, do some errands with some ranchers, earn a few newbucks, and you can have it colorized to your specification. Just be thankful that the 7Zee Corporation took the initiative and fitted it will every upgrade you could get from the Vacpack Upgrade Terminal."

Tiffany nodded with a smile. "Yeah. Bullets might pass through slimes with no effect, but the slimes are greatly affected by the elements of wind and water! The Vacpack is capable of using both, and is able to store a hundred of any type of item in its four inventory slots, plus a hundred units of water. Each Vacpack even has a built-in radar and flashlight! Anytime you are lost or in the dark, the Vacpack will help you out!"

"Not to mention it can be combined with jetpack propulsion technology that can help you hover through the air, or get you to places that would normally be impossible to reach." Samantha added.

Robert pointed at the Vacpack and gestured to Brent. "It also has vitality sensing equipment and a special distress beacon. Should the Vacpack's vitality sensors detect that you have been knocked out, the Vackpack will activate its distress beacon. The nearest Automated Rancher Recovery Robot will then bring you back to this settlement to recover. If there is one thing I want to stress saying to you during your stay on the Far, Far Range, it is this: Don't ever leave this building without your Vacpack."

Brent looked at the Vacpack with slight consternation and thoughtful contemplation, as he was reminded of Beatrix LeBeau's absence. How did she end up missing in the first place? If she was incapacitated and was somehow removed of her Vacpack, then Brent would have suspected malicious intent. However, from Viktor's testimony, Beatrix sounded like a kind and inspiring person, and very unlikely to make enemies. In order to find Beatrix, Brent knew that he had to understand her character and personality first. He looked at each member of his new investigation team. "Are there any acquaintances, associates, or persons of interests that know Ms. Beatrix LeBeau?"

* * *

**A/N: Buzz buzz, now Brent has a bumble-butt.**


	4. Hunted

**Hunted**

* * *

Brent always thought he was a good soccer player, but he would admit that he had more fun playing games of either rugby or gridiron football. He would have made a career as an athlete, had he not tripped on a ball and sustained a leg injury in his youth. Thankfully, he had a keen intellect, and had a knack discovering clues and catching hidden details. Such skills would have landed him in detective work, but he had a notorious family history that had always put him at odds with police and law enforcement. It could have something to do with one of his great grandparents changing their names and going into the witness protection program. As a result, he became a private investigator instead.

And it was terribly ironic how he was 'kicking' a pink tetragonal trapezohedron without any legs.

After some difficulty, he made it to the area where he once ate that sword-beaked bird. Did the small green creature named Gretchin call them 'choppa birds'? Regardless of the semantics, Brent was reminded of the poor goblin-like creature that was whisked away by that green giant named Gorggat. However, Brent was an alien on an alien world, and he could only assume the worst on what would happen if those green monsters had met Brent.

Also, the plorts Brent had made earlier disappeared.

Once he saw the lack of plorts, he discarded the one he brought with him and looked around for the rest. Maybe they rolled down the hill? Brent looked downhill and decided that wasn't the case, for he saw none. Maybe a choppa bird decided to take off with them? It might seem likely, but he doubted that a single bird would take all three plorts with it, unless it had help with flying friends that flocked together. Brent looked at the ground and searched for any disturbances that was in the grass, dirt, and other types of forest detritus.

He saw a massive footprint imprinted into the ground.

Judging from the footprint, he assumed that it belonged to a boot of massive size, the person that wore it was tall, heavy, and muscled, and he could only assume that the owner was green and had terrible anger. In Brent's mind, it likely belonged to another green monster, and Brent could only assume that its name was 'Grashnik'.

Brent stared at the footprint for several seconds more before he continued 'kicking' the fourth plort he made, nudging it along as he traveled back to the one place he remembered coming out from. The cave that he had awoken in.

Thankfully, the cave entrance had an incline that allowed Brent to save his strength. The plort tumbled down the cave entrance harmlessly, only to roll into the only trickling stream of water that fed into the underground lake, which the plort had entered. The plort didn't even make a ripple in the expansive underground lake, since the waves the trickle made had dispersed it. The rest of the lake was eerily calm, as the darkness in the deeper part of the cavern shrowded everything from Brent's sight.

And now, Brent the Private Investigator, who turned into Brent the Pink Slime, has came back to where he started.

He came to the shore of the underground lake and rested himself at its edge. He gazed into the water, and was soon deep in his own thoughts again.

His thoughts settled back on the ranch he was sent to. He made some odd friendships back at the Dry Reef, though he remembered little. Despite his mind-numbing amnesia, and his sudden transformation into a pink slime, he could recount his past experiences with near-successful clarity. However, his recent memory was somewhat faded, feeling like a book on a page that was slowly having its history written in. Try as he could, he could barely remember what happened after he arrived at the Dry Reef Ranch. Thinking about it, didn't Brent ask his investigation team if Beatrix LeBeau was close to any of her neighbors? ... Yes, he did. Sadly, due to certain hiccups with the teleporter network, Brent had to rely on the 'Starmail' that Samantha mentioned.

Brent blinked a few times, remembering that he was part of a team. What happened to Samantha? What happened to Robert? What happened to Tiffany? Were they still back on the Far, Far Range? Or did they come with him? Were they safe? Questions upon questions pained Brent's head. He decided to dunk his face into the calm water, hoping that cooling himself off will make him think more clearly.

A sharp swooshing sound, followed by a splashing of water, disrupted Brent's thoughts. When he looked up, he saw a massive spear had been stabbed into the water in front of him. The spear was adorned with markings upon its wood and leather grip, while the spear's tip was embedded too far into the water to allow Brent to see what it looked like.

Brent slowly turned to look behind himself.

A tall green monster, similar in stature, height, and musculature as Gorggat, stood right at the entrance of the cave. This green monster was adorned with many animal skins that was draped with leaves and moss. It had a topknot on the top of its head, and it poked through a leather hat that seemed designed to keep the sun out of its eyes. Oddly enough, it also had a belt that looked like it was made out of snake hide. It carried a large knife, which would have been big enough to be used as a sword if it had been equipped by a smaller man. Brent would have wondered if this green monster was Grashnik, had he not felt fear course through his entire body.

The giant green hunter shook his head. "Zogg'n missed 'da fing. I guess I'z chopp'n it up instead." He began to walk forward, coming towards Brent.

Brent slinked back quickly, terrified of the green giant that had thrown that spear at him. '_This is it.'_ Brent thought. '_This is how I am going to die.'_

Once the giant hunter stepped into the water, he immediately sank into it. "WUH?!"

Brent blinked a few times.

It was then that he suddenly realized he could float on water.

While the giant hunter struggled while he spluttered water from his mouth, Brent turned and ran away as fast as he could with his little slime body. Brent was unable to travel faster than a brisk walk, and he knows that anyone traveling faster than a brisk walk could catch up to him. However, Brent hoped that the water would slow down the giant hunter long enough for him to make his escape.

However, Brent's mad slippery dash had led him to an unfortunate obstacle. Darkness. He paused as he looked at the abyssal expanse that seemed to suffocate light. "Uh..."

"WHERE'D YA GO, YA GIT?! I'Z GUNNA STOMP YA INTO PASTE ONCE I FIND YA! I SWEARS ON MA CHOPPAH!"

Without any further hesitation, Brent decided to blindly proceed, not knowing what dangers lurked within.

* * *

**Prelude 4**

* * *

Four Starmail messages had been written some time ago. Brent would have hoped that he could meet the other ranchers in person, but Samantha had explained that the teleporter network was having an unusual malfunction. She explained that the closer the teleporter was to the aggressive slimes or to the Dry Reef area, the more they seemed to malfunction. Most of the time, the refused to work, but when the slimes are absent from the area, the teleporters worked normally. Brent was starting to get the idea on why he was chosen to investigate into this matter. His theory was that Beatrix LeBeau was somehow tied to the slime's aggression and their sudden ability to disrupt teleporter shortcuts and static teleporters. Since the Dry Reef contained so many aggressive slimes, it would be next to impossible to teleport to any neighboring ranches Beatrix once frequented. In short, Brent didn't know that coming to the Dry Reef Ranch was a one-way trip.

"So how have you guys survived being here?" Brent asked the three members of his investigation team. Currently, he was waiting for his Starmail to update, since he was sitting next to the computer terminal.

Robert grunted while he leaned on a nearby wall. "Easy. With great difficulty. Euthanizing and plucking some hen hens might make you a little queasy at first, but the smell of a home-cooked meal can do wonders to lift your spirits."

Samantha huffed. "I don't know about you, but I'm starting to get sick of eating carrots and pogofruit. And all the chickens we've hunted down are starting to taste the same."

"We passed by a cuberry tree the other day." Tiffany added. "Maybe we could go by there and pick up some cuberries?"

Samantha sighed. "Pass. I think I would rather have a hamburger after we return to Earth. That, or maybe a nice, crispy, filet of fish? Ohhh, I want some chocolate sooo badly."

Brent blinked a few times. "... I hope you don't mind my curiosity, but uh... How did you came to Earth?"

Samantha turned to look at Brent. After analyzing his question, she began to smile at him. "I came by space shuttle. And if you want to ask these two chuckle-heads, don't bother. They came with me on the same boat around four months ago. But now that you mentioned it, how did you get from Earth to here? I'm sure Tiffany would have wanted us to visit the spaceport just to see you arrive."

Brent sighed. "I'm sorry, but I can't answer that question. The 7Zee Corporation had me sign a waver not to disclose any private information."

Tiffany's eyes brightened. "... I think that's supposed to mean the 7Zee Corporation built that super teleporter thingy! Amazing! Hah!"

Robert shook his head at Tiffany. "Okay, blabbermouth. What's this about a super teleporter?"

Tiffany wildly turned to Robert indignantly. "Oh come on, Rob! Everybody and their grandmother's dog knows that the 7Zee Corporation were planning to create a super teleporter for a long time now! Not only it'll ease the burden of transporting resources, but also, in the near future, transport ranchers to the Far, Far Range!"

Samantha chuckled. "Well you better be careful saying that in public or around Brent, Tiff. 7Zee not only hired him to find a missing rancher, but also to find out why the slimes all across the Far, Far Range have became hostile to humans."

Brent waved his hand in a so-so gesture. "Well, that last part is more a secondary, optional mission objective."

"Even so," Robert interrupted, leaning off of the wall and standing up. "The big wigs don't know if Beatrix is the cause of the slimes' aggression, or the lesser-known teleporter network malfunction. From whatever hints I get when I contact them through Starmail, they certainly want to know who created the stall in their economy, and why. Hell, if the 7Zee Corporation can find evidence of Beatrix having probable cause for disrupting their operations on the Far, Far Range, then you'd better bet that she's going to be crucified in the coming legal battle. They would have a team of lawyers, while she would have no way to argue her case. In the end, she would no longer be legible to work as a slime rancher anymore."

Tiffany frowned at Robert. "Wow Rob. Way to bring down the mood."

Robert shrugged. "Hey. I tell it like it is."

"Anyway, you have some mail to read." Samantha said to Brent.

Brent blinked at Samantha before turning to his computer terminal. "Ah. Four messages on my Starmail account." He checked each of the letter addresses. "Viktor... Ogden... Mochi... Thora... Yep. Looks like I got some reading to do."

Robert nodded at Brent. "We'll leave you to it then. And since there's four people living under this roof, I think it's time for another grocery run." He then looked at Samantha and Tiffany. "Sam? Tiff? You coming with?"

Samantha hoisted her Vacgun up, gesturing to Robert that she would follow. "Chicken today. Chicken tomorrow. I swear, if I'm going to have chicken for another month on this planet, I'd feel tempted to eat a slime."

"Nooooo, don't do that!" Tiffany protested as she followed after Samantha and Robert.

Brent waved at them. "Stay safe, you guys."

Robert pointed at Brent's Vacpack on the only bed. "Be sure to practice using that thing. It might look silly, but it'll help you on the Far, Far Range immensely." He said before he left through the front door, with Samantha and Tiffany following behind him.

Brent now had time to focus on his Starmail.

* * *

**Some assistance shall be provided**

_Viktor Humphries_

I am gladdened to know that you have became acquainted with your new investigation team, Mr. Stormford. I do so hope that you are expedient in locating Beatrix, and finding the root to why the slimes have continually grown so disgruntled with humanity at large. However, I am also glad that you have told me about the malfunction in the teleporter network. It seems this malfunction wasn't as localized as I first thought. As it so happens, my own teleporter project had came across a few bugs of its own as well, which had only begun to manifest after you had left. It's quite the conundrum! Though this would mean I must invest more time sorting problems on my own end, it would also mean we would have to postpone our meeting. I would have enjoyed having another conversation with you. Even answering a few questions you might have about Beatrix.

Speaking of Beatrix, she is a very bright and determined person. I'm sure that she can find a way to escape any perilous situation. Her intelligence will surely outsmart any dangerous slime she comes across!

But as of right now, I must express my expediency! My teleporter project needs to be repaired, and any time wasted is a crime to scientific progress!

Sincerely,

Viktor Humphries

* * *

**Good luck on the search!**

_Ogden Ortiz_

Hiya Brent! It makes my soul overfill with joy that you're going out to the Dry Reef to find Beatrix! If it wasn't for this bug causing such a kerfuffle with the teleporter network, I would have come out to you and help you search for her! However, the bug isn't going away anytime soon, so... I suppose I'll stay here at my retreat. At least I got my kookadobas to keep me taste buds company. But they seem to taste so bitter knowing that she got trapped somewhere. Then again, it does make me wonder... Why is the 7Zee Corporation so interested in finding her? I mean I know old Hobson Twillgers' once haunted the ranch, and that it's a big property he owned and all. Maybe they want her to get back in the saddle? Or maybe it was something she did?

Anyway, if I were in Beatrix's shoes, I'd tough it out! She might seem small, but she's also a very strong and durable lady. Did you know that she once helped me collect a type of fruit known as a kookadoba? Well, it's a rare fruit that only grows in one location on the Far, Far Range called The Wilds. If you didn't know already, The Wilds also happens to be a land STREWN with an ancient race of feral saber largo slimes. Despite the dangers The Wilds posed to her, she still braved them with gusto! Got me so many kookadobas, they pilled up all the way to my neck in fact!

I hope that your search bears fruit, Brent. And I hope for Beatrix's safety.

O.O.

* * *

**(no subject)**

_Mochi Miles_

Thanks for coming to the Far, Far Range to find Beatrix, Detective Stormford. I got the scoop from some credible sources that you were hired by the 7Zee Corporation to hunt her down. ... Actually, that sounds too impersonal. I'm sorry if I said the word 'hunt' to describe what you are doing here, but really, I don't know you well enough to understand what your motives are and why 7Zee hired you to track her down. But that's just it! Your arrival to the Far, Far Range is just way too convenient, and 7Zee must have paid a lot of money to get a private investigator to come to this slimy planet! I also understand that you had some history helping 7Zee in preventing corporate sabotage before. You might be here to find a missing rancher, but you are also on 7Zee's behalf and payroll. To summarize on what I mean: I got my eye on you...

... But I wouldn't be a good friend if I didn't give you information that could help you locate Beatrix. I consider Beatrix and me birds of a feather, after all. For her to end up disappearing one day is so unlike her. She's quick on her feet, and she works hard to earn her well-deserved newbucks. Not to mention plucky! Like, to a fault! If you do find her, give her a message from me. Tell her that I missed her helping me with the quicksilver slimes. Also tell her that she'll need to work herself RAGGED before I decide to give her an apology!

Now you go and look for Beatrix, Detective!

Mochi Miles, Top Rancher

* * *

**Dreadful Times**

_Thora West_

I had no idea the Corporation had sent a detective just to find our missing Beatrix. I guess they still believe she's alive somewhere, despite all the financial support they wasted on all those search parties that got turned back by angry slimes. But all the same, I still wish I could help you out and guide you around. Old man Hobs certainly saw a kindred spirit in her when he gave the deed to the Dry Reef Ranch property. The land surrounding Beatrix's ranch certainly holds a great many secrets, treasures, and even one or two surprises if you look hard enough.

The land is becoming too rough to my liking. I've decided that if things somehow gets worse, I'll retire and return to Earth. But if you're a greenhorn to the rancher lifestyle, I'll give you a few tips on how to survive the Far, Far Range. Firstly, always carry some food with you. When you're stuck somewhere in the wilderness, it's always good to have some pogofruit or carrots to distract the slimes, or to feed yourself with in case you get hungry. Chickens are a little harder to come by, but any studding cockerels are an investment to any chicken coop. Secondly, never try to swim in the slime sea. It's too viscous to try to paddle through, and it also happens to be the home of an army of slimes that live underneath its surface. I'm sure the slimes neath the waves would get in a tizzy if you dove in with them! And lastly, watch out for any slimes that looks like it's thinking up a plan. Trust me. They will ruin your day. Once in a while, you'll come across one of those smart slimes that can inspire or command its slime brethren to rebel against us ranchers. It might be hard to tell what they look like if you don't know what you're looking for, but I will say this about them: They always look like they are scheming and plotting something behind your back or out of earshot.

Anyhow, I hope my rambling advice helped you, Mr. Stormford. And I hope Beatrix is well. If you find her, tell her the neighbors missed her.

And I hope you become the next Sherlock Holmes!

-Thora

* * *

Brent closed his computer terminal and sat there, thinking deeply and contemplating his next move. He concluded that Beatrix is certainly well liked by her neighbors in the rancher community.

Having met Viktor before, he could tell that the gifted slime scientist was dedicated to his work. Although, Brent would say Viktor probably gets himself too immersed into his work. Still, he had a brilliant mind and respected Beatrix greatly. Brent had to owe it to the scientist, for if it wasn't for him, he wouldn't be on the Far, Far Range in the first place.

Ogden seemed like he was a boisterous fellow. Certainly, he did appear to be a person that expresses great loyalty to his friends. However, Brent had never met Ogden in person before, so he wasn't able to gauge his personality completely. But even then, Ogden was certain that Beatrix was still alive and somewhere safe.

Mochi was quite the spirited girl, and also incredibly worried about her missing friend. It did surprise Brent that she knew so much about the 7Zee Corporation's machinations, but he also remembered that she was the daughter to the head of a rival company, Miles Tech. Brent would bet her father would be so proud that she made such a close friend.

And finally, there was Thora. From what he gathered from his investigation team, she was the oldest rancher on the planet, and was in charge of welcoming new slime ranchers to the Far, Far Range. She seems to be quite the veteran among the other ranchers, and was well respected. Brent would have loved to meet her, but he felt like he wouldn't get the chance due to the teleporter network bug and her desire to retire in the near future.

Brent looked back at the Vacpack that was on the bed. If Brent had a poetic bone in his body, he would have said that it was waiting for him to wear it. With a sigh, he got up from his chair and walked toward the Vacpack. "Right. I guess I spent enough time putting you to the side."

* * *

**A/N: You'd run away too if a big green scary giant started chasing you.**


	5. Orks Discovers Plorts

**Orks Discovers Plorts**

* * *

The smell of heavy gore stank to high heaven, or more accurately, within Gorggat's 'fishing shack'. The small green creature that called itself Gretchin was dissected and separated into pieces of managable flesh, each one sufficiently sized to be used as bait on a hook. Every piece of Gretchin was then put into a rusty, blood covered bucket, while the blood and bones would be grounded up to be used as chum. Gorggat chuckled as he picked up Gretchin's skinned face, holding it up like a nightmarish mockery of a fleshy, blood-dribbling sock puppet.

"Oi, Iz a little grot, dat's wot I iz! I like do'n grot fings, an mak'n Gorggat an Grashnik lives very un-orky! Hur hur hur~!" He then slammed Gretchin's face on the crimson table. "Well guess wot? Yer're not gonna be laugh'n anymoore be'n underwater, katch'n fish."

He sliced the face and added it to the bait bucket. It was then that the heavy door behind him had abruptly opened. Gorgatt looked behind himself to find a green giant he was all-too familiar with. However, this other green giant was unusually... wet. Like he had jumped into a body of water recently. However, Gorggat bared his teeth at the contemptible roommate. He still remembered that Grashnik stole his gitfinda.

Gorggat pointed accusingly at Grashnik. "Took ya long enough ta get back ere, ya git."

Grashnik shook his head and grumbled. "I didn't kome back ta da fish'n shack ta listen ta yer gob. Ma hunt'n trip went nowhere. I need ta get dry so I kan get back ta track'n dat kritta dat got away." He said, setting himself down at the central fireplace and stoking its fires with his spear. He then began removing his pelts and camouflage, setting them to the side to dry faster.

Gorggat snarled at Grashnik. "Wot?! Ya got ma gitfinda wet? Yer'e a zogg'n idiot, 'dat's wot ya iz!"

Grashnik snarled back. "You're 'da idiot ere! Wot kind uv ork from 'da deathskulls klan takes only wun gitfinda? Yer should have taken a lot more dan wun when we kame ta 'da WAAAGH! ta krump some bugs!"

Gorggat folded his bloody arms together. "That would have been nice, yeah. But see, 'dat waz before our krooza had enjin troubles an' stuff. Da freeboota kaptain dat waz pilot'n it decided ta make an emergency land'n on dis gork an mork forsaken planet. Don't know if it was 'cos we waz outta fuel or if 'e thought 'der were bugs on dis planet ta krump. But we krashed ere, an' now we iz separated from da rest uv da ork fleet head'n ta da Octarius party."

"I know 'da rest uv 'da story." Grashnik said as he bright his hands closer to the fire. "Da kaptain died when we landed."

"And now 'cos 'da kaptain up an died, a new ork boss got up ta take kontrol ova 'da remainin' tribes an klans 'dat got invited ta fight at Octarius." Gorggat added. "But bugga me if I knew wot Big Boss Bonebita was fink'n pair'n a Deathskulls ork wit' a Snakebites git."

Grashnik scoffed. "If it wasn't fer me, ya still wouldn't know how ta fish."

Gorggat shook his head, but then decided to change the subject. "Speak'n uv fings 'dat are wet, mind splain'n why yer look like yer slipped on a dousand puddles on 'da way ere?"

Grashnik sighed as he reached into his pelts. "As I said before, I was hunt'n some kritta. I found it near 'da woods, see? I followed it an' saw it ate dat snot ya threw ta 'da ground an' whoteva, before ya decided ta turn dat grot into fish bait."

Gorggat blinked his eyes dumbly. He remembered something. "Say, did yer see any 'umiez near da shack? I heard a squeaky voiced wun earlier, but I fink it gave me da slip."

"I didn't see any 'umiez." Grashnik answered. He pulled out three pink pulsating tetragonal trapezohedrons from his clothes. "But it made dese fings afta eat'n 'dat dead snot."

Gorggat looked at the pink objects presented to him. He carefully plucked one from Grashnik's hand and inspected one. He had no idea what it was. It was very shiny though. "What iz it?"

Grashnik shrugged, setting the pink objects to the ground and continuing to dry himself. "Don't know. It made wun uv dese fings afta eat'n 'da snot yer tossed. It karried it ta some kind uv nest it waz making, which waz where I found dese fings. 'Dat waz when I tracked it ta a nearby kave, see? It was also where I lost track uv it. Dere was an' underground lake, an' it floated on da wata like it waz filled wit' air or someth'n. Dat waz when it made its escape into da darkness, which was afta I found out ma gitfinda stopped work'n when it got wet."

"It's ma gitfinda, not yours ya bloody git." Gorggat said as he turned the pink object in the light. "Do yer fink it's an egg? Or iz dis its drops?"

Grashnik looked at the bloody bait bucket. "I would have had our grot eat wun uv im ta find out fer us. But since 'e's fish bait now, I guess we'll have ta find annuver grot ta eat it instead." However, he looked back at Gorggat with a mischievous smile. "Unless yer're wantin' ta eat wun uv im?"

Gorggat looked at the pink object in his hand for another inspection. Shrugging his shoulders and making a grunt of indifference, he tossed the pink object into his gob and gave it a mighty chew. Seconds after his teeth mashed the pink object to gritty chunks, he began coughing.

Grashnik raised an eyebrow at Gorggat. "Wot? Duz it taste sour or someth'n?"

Gorggat thumped his chest with his fist. "No! It's too sweet! An' maybe a bit chalky? Whateva it iz, it ain't its drops. I don't know if its an egg either! Wot made dis fing?!"

Grashnik chuckled at Gorggat's expense. He then held up his hand as though he carried some invisible thing in his palm. "The kritta 'dat made dose pink fings was very blobby, like if yer filled a bag wit' pink liquid stuff an' made 'da bag disappear. It was also about as pink as dat fing ya ate. 'Da blobby bugeye was small enough ta fit 'n 'da palm uv me hand, but was light enough ta float on wata."

"You fink dis fing iz a bugeye?" Gorggat asked, picking his teeth with a pinky talon.

"Of kourse! If it was a native kritter, we would be see'n more uv im around. Yer an' I have been on dis planet for, wot, a year now? See, if we had lived on dis planet for long enough, den we would have noticed more dan wun uv dese bugeyez dan jus 'da wun I discovered. On 'da otha hand, it was 'n 'da process uv mak'n a nest wit' dese fings." Grashnik explained.

Gorggat scratched his green head. "Urgh... So... Dese fings really are eggs den?"

"Dat's wot I'm finkin'." Grashnik nodded. "An' if dat bugeye ran around dropp'n more uv dese shiny egg fings, which might or might not be eggs mind ya, den 'der might be more dan wun uv dese blobby bugeye krittaz."

Gorggat nodded before going to a wall to fetch a large and blood-covered cutting tool, which also happened to be the same one he used on Gretchin. "How about I kome wit' ya on yer next hunt'n trip? I kinda want ta see wot dis blobby bugeye looks like up close. An' if it happens ta have friends... I'll introduce 'em ta ma choppa!"

Grashnik grinned. He checked on the gitfinda he kept 'borrowing' from Gorggat and discovered that it was dry. "The gitfinda iz dry. Alright den! No more muck'n about! Time ta track, trap, an' maybe eat some blobby bugeyez!"

A green fist slammed into Grashnik's face, forcing him from his seat and landing flat on the ground. The stunned Grashnik cocked his jaw back into place while Gorggat took the gitfinda back from Grashnik. "Anyway, danks for dry'n it. Been meanin' ta get dis back from ya."

Just as Gorggat got his gitfinda back in his possession, Grashnik bellowed loudly and threw his own fists at Gorggat.

And so, the two green giants proceeded to beat each other in a bloody brawl, arguing violently over who gets to use the gitfinda.

* * *

**Prelude 5**

* * *

Elated laughter filled the air as an investigator floated with glee and excitement.

Brent was hesitant to wear the Vacpack for a time. He always had a strong dislike for bees, due to an incident regarding a wasp nest he had ran into when he was a child. However, he practiced his jetpack and running skills with determination, his training taking more than several hours out of the day already. Operation of the Vacgun was exceedingly simple for Brent to understand, but the hovering capabilities of his Jetpack attachment took some time to understand how greatly it improved his mobility. As such, he spent much of his time with hopping between one scareslime to another. He even found a way to get on top of the ranch house and get on top of the stony walls that surrounded the area. After further practice, Brent felt confident that his training could enable him the means to travel the breadth of the land, and every inch that the Far, Far Range could offer him.

He exhaled as he landed at the front door of the house he and his investigation team was staying in. He decided that he had enough practice for the day.

But before he could get too comfortable, he saw three figures walking through the only passage that connected the Dry Reef Ranch to the rest of The Dry Reef. As they came closer to him, he waved his hand at them. All of them returned the wave.

Tiffany was the first to meet back with Brent. "Missed us? You looked like you ran a mile."

Brent shook his head. "Well. I think it'd be more accurate to say I 'floated' a mile. I have been practicing with my new Vacpack."

Tiffany beamed a smile. "Good! You'll need the practice for tomorrow."

Samantha and Robert arrived after Tiffany. Samantha shook her head. "For the past month, we've been scouring this stretch of planet for our missing person. Let's hope you're worth 7Zee's money and time."

"Speaking of tomorrow, and work," Brent said, pointing at the passage that Tiffany, Samantha and Robert had arrived from. "the investigation report said that Ms. LeBeau's last known position was at the Ancient Ruins. I would like to go there and investigate the area."

Samantha sighed as she looked upward in slight anguish. "Huh... Never thought we would go back in there again."

Brent blinked a few times. "Why's that?"

"The slimes are most aggressive at the Ancient Ruins." Robert huffed. It seems the Ancient Ruins was a sore subject for him. "It's not only Quantum Slimes and their qubit ghosts you have to worry about, but there have been sightings of other breeds of slimes haunting and infesting the area. We have made ten attempts trying to get through to the Ancient Ruins area, only for our progress to be completely halted by the slimes themselves. Last time we went there, an army of Feral Hunter Largos rushed at us from every direction. I was glad that I had a portable scareslime with us on that day. I don't think Viktor would like it if I told him I left one of his portable scareslimes there."

Tiffany nodded as she held her chin in thought. "Yeah, that was a scary day. Now that you mention it, it appears as though they are responding to our presence, adapting their strategies so they could more efficiently prevent us from entering their Ancient Ruins."

Samantha hand-waved at Tiffany's observation dismissively. "Pish-posh, as the British would say. I would instead postulate that the slimes' aggressive behavior has created and developed a primitive migratory instinct. This is surely just a side-effect of their aggression. Anything more than that would be fanatical conjecture. However, some people would refer to that as fanfiction."

Tiffany turned to Samantha. "Well sometimes it's fun to imagine scenarios that would have little or no impact to canon facts. However, most people don't call it 'fanatical conjecture'. They call a hypothesis. Even a witch like you would understand that a hypothesis is important to scientific progress."

"Don't flap your pouty lips at me." Samantha hissed. "Your cute facade might fool most people, but I know that a slimey girl like you can't keep a professional distance away from coworkers or slime specimens."

"Ladies." Robert grunted unenthusiastically. "Stop fighting."

Samantha and Tiffany simultaneously turned to look at Robert with venomous stares. Tiffany puffed her cheeks. "Rude. Didn't your mother tell you it's not polite to butt into a conversation?"

Samantha sneered at Robert. "I can handle Slime Girl by my own, thank you."

"You said it, Witch." Tiffany replied.

Robert looked at the the two before shaking his head. "Whatever. I'm just doing my job making sure we don't kill each other. That or get hunted by the slimes."

Brent raised an eyebrow. "Witch? Slime Girl? Would this entail you two shared some history at some point?"

Samantha turned to Brent. Her venomous stare had lessened a little. "You could say that. Tiffany and I used to study together when we were in college, though our studies branched off in different directions. We'd meet again under the employment of the 7Zee Corporation, and we would pass by each other when we gave our dissertations to the scientific communities."

Tiffany reached behind her head and blushed. "And when the 7Zee Corporation had need of researchers that have degrees in xenobiology and xenoarchaeology, well... Sam and I were their best people to send to the Far, Far Range."

"Ah, I see." Brent said, crossing his arms. "Would this history between you two get in the way of our investigation?"

Samantha shook her head. "No. We'll help you around the Far, Far Range as best as we are able to."

Tiffany pointed at Samantha and herself. "That was just some friendly jabs between old acquaintances. No need to concern yourself in the small diatribes between us."

Brent nodded at the geologist and slime specialist. "Good."

"Bad news, ladies and gentleman." Robert announced. "We got some guests."

Brent looked at Robert to see him pointing his Vacgun at a slowly approaching tide of slimes that were approaching the Dry Reef Ranch, looking as though they were a growing wave of multicolored balloons. He then saw Tiffany and Samantha readying themselves. Brent copied their stances. "Well. So much for an uneventful afternoon."

Tiffany gazed at the kaleidoscopic rainbow of marching slimes coming close, though they maintained a wide birth from the portable scareslimes. "Rocks. Tabbies. Raddies. Boomies. Honies. Crystals. And a whole bunch of pinks."

Samantha squinted at the crowd of gathered slimes. "I think I see some hunters in there. ... And also some quantum slimes too."

Brent felt a little uneasy. "So this is what you normally deal with?"

Robert chuckled at Brent. "Relax. The scareslimes are keeping them out of the ranch property. These little guys are too stupid to realize that those scareslimes are fake."

Samantha nodded. "And if they turned into any Tarr, our Super Hydro Turret defense system will wash them out."

Tiffany paused as she looked at all the gathered slimes. "... Wait. Something is odd. Do any of you see what I see?"

Brent turned to Tiffany. "What? What is it?"

Tiffany pointed at the horde of slime. "There are no largos here. This group of slimes are all pures."

Samantha turned to Tiffany in an unimpressed tone. "And that is supposed to mean what to us?"

"I don't know, but I think we're going to find out." Tiffany intoned.

Robert huffed. "Oh come on. Pure slimes are not **that** dangerous. They don't bite or buttstomp you."

Tiffany rolled her eyes. "You're forgetting about the rock, boom, rad, crystal, mosaic and fire slimes, Rob. Not every pure slime is harmless."

Once Brent was done focusing on his team, his attention lingered on the gathered slimes. They all seemed angry. More specifically, they were staring angrily at the four humans standing at the front door of the Dry Reef Ranch's habitation unit. He didn't like what he was seeing. "Robert. Do you think these slimes can organize themselves?"

"What?" Robert asked dumbly.

"Do you think these slimes have some kind of leader that is telling them what to do? Like there was a commander slime somewhere in that formation of slimes?" Brent said, trying to get Robert to understand what he meant.

Robert gave Brent a flat stare. "... The slimes? Really? Come on, Brent. These things are too stupid to follow military tactics." He then turned to gaze at the hundreds of angry faces that glared at him. That was when he saw something. "But then again. I have been wrong before."

Tiffany looked at Robert with a chuckle. "What? Did you guess someone's fortune cookie wrong?"

Brent pointed at the slime horde. "Look at the back of the formation."

Brent looked at what Robert had pointed at. His eyes widened in astonishment and in horror. A black wave of hungry maws was rising and falling far behind the formation of slimes. Cannibalistic gluttony was eating through the formation of hundreds of slimes like a torrential train wreck, becoming worse and worse as the destruction continued to unfold. The slimes at the furthest part of the formation were behind the roiling tide of insatiable gluttony, and were unable to escape. It dawned quickly on Brent that this formation was steadily decreasing in size, and the Tarr were converting the slimes to form their own formation. A formation that consisted of the same number of slimes as the first, but would certainly double in size. For every slime they consumed, the Tarr had added another to their ranks, which would transform into a monster that was double the size of its original self, or retain the same size if it had been a largo in a past life.

Tiffany paled. "Oh... Oh fiddlesticks..."

Brent gulped. "Do we have enough turrets to deal with this mess?"

Samantha gritted her teeth. "Eto piz`dets! Good thing I got this from Viktor yesterday." Samantha accessed her Vacpack and unpacked some strange device that she planted into the ground. Once she did so, it began spouting water. She pointed at the spout of water. "Portable water tap deployed! Suck some water up, but ration your water carefully! Stand next to a turret if you need to, but don't get overwhelmed!"

Robert chuckled darkly. "Looks like the war zone is coming to us. Heh! I never would have thought my training in the army is gonna come in handy like this!"

The four humans armed with slime ranching equipment quickly filled their Vacpacks with precious water and began to poise themselves at the doorstep of Beatrix's domicile.

The wave of Tarr rolled over the slimes that gathered to the passage that led in and out of the ranch property. It was hard to stomach watching the Tarr consume their kind, but Brent was beginning to understand what was going on here. A smart slime may have been at work here, and it must have figured that Tarr were not scared of other Tarr.

Once the Tarr finished consuming the pure slimes that filled the passage, they turned their gaze toward Brent's investigation team and to him. They proceeded to move as one in a wave of singular will. They were determined to eat the humans in Beatrix's old ranch.

Brent, Robert, Samantha and Tiffany started firing at the mass of Tarr. Their shots landed and splashed upon the mass of black and rainbow-skinned demons. With concentrated fire from both the Super Hydro Turrets and Brent's team, the Tarr was slowed in their advance. However, each member of Brent's team took turns to reload their Vacpacks with more water from the water tap, which ensured that the pressure applied to the Tarr didn't recede slightly. Each Tarr that became splashed with a dousing of water flashed in colorful vapor. Brent could have sworn that he saw sparkles and confetti lingered in the air before evaporating further.

Brent lost track of time as the Tarr kept coming towards Brent and his team. There had been a few times that he or his teammates would activate their pulse waves to push back the wall of Tarr. However, there were just so many, and Brent found that the energy his Vacpack uses requires energy for other functions. Not only did it use energy for sprinting or hovering through the air, but it also used energy when Brent had need of a pulse to force back the wave of Tarr. However, using pulse waves too much would eat into a Vacpack's energy supply much quickly than sprinting or hovering. It was just a resource in limited supply, just like the water being shot from his Vacgun. At least both energy and water were what prevented the Tarr from taking over Beatrix's ranch, but even Brent knew that their resources had limitations. Brent dreaded to think on what would happen if he ran out of one or both at the wrong moment.

Brent looked at the horde of Tarr that continued to pressure the defenders of the ranch. "And I thought the rancher life would be way calmer than this!"

Robert grinned as he fought against the oncoming Tarr. "Well it hasn't been a walk in the park lately. It's been like this for the past six months! Although, this wave of Tarr is a new one for me!"

"I have never seen so many before!" Tiffany shouted, sucking up water to refill her water tank before focusing on the Tarr again.

That was when Brent noticed a slight change to the Tarr. Some were able to survive a single shot of water at first, but then the rest of the Tarr were developing similarly. Brent gritted his teeth. "Guys, I just noticed something. Our water is becoming less effective. They're taking more hits to put down!"

Tiffany paled even more. "It must be because it's becoming night. Tarr get stronger when it's nighttime."

Robert hissed. "Should have set down more Hydro Turrets! I don't think we'll last another hour fighting them like this!"

Brent noticed that the Tar were getting closer to their position. "I really hope the Automated Rancher Recovery Robots find us before we get too chewed up!"

Samantha began stepping back. "Don't worry, our Vacpacks are registered! So long as we wear out Vacpacks when we get knocked out, we'll be delivered to Beatrix's habitation unit!"

Robert stepped back as well. "At least you got a coat of anti-adhesive on you! That'll stop any largo or Tarr from pulling you into their guts and turning you into food!"

Samantha hissed. "Getting gnawed on like some dog's chew toy is a thought I do not want to foster."

Tiffany paused before she began to smile. "Don't worry guys. We can get through this." She said, holstering her Vacgun.

Robert looked at Tiffany like she grew a third leg out of her forehead. "Tiff?! What are you doing?! We still got Tarr coming at us!"

Tiffany pointed at the Tarr. "We've been fighting the Tarr for an hour. Look."

Brent, Robert and Samantha looked at the Tarr and saw that they were bursting on their own. One by one, then ten by ten, and then hundreds of the Tarr was vanishing in vibrant explosions of rainbow colored steam and particles. The Super Hydro Turrets, now seeming too few in their installations and placements, were now fighting against the straggling Tarr that still hungered after Brent's team.

And now, the ranch was quiet with the silence of a growing night, the dusk of yesterday still painting the ranch with what little twilight remained.

Brent breathed a sigh of relief. "Hoo... Okay, my adrenaline is going down a notch. I feel really tired now."

Samantha stared at the passage with a critical eye. "... I was wondering why we weren't finding many slimes. They must have been following us when we toured through the range.

Robert coughed. "Blech. The air smells like an oil spill. I hope a good stiff wind blows all this bad air out of here."

Tiffany holstered her Vacpack and headed toward the Dry Reef Ranch's house. "I don't know about you guys, but I really want some food."

When she opened a door, yellow eyes greeted Tiffany. She shrieked loudly, backpedaling as fast as her feet could carry her. However, her hand had gotten caught in the slime's maw.

Robert was quick to act, using his Vacgun to suction-grip the largo and yank it from Jennifer's hand.

Brent had caught sight of the slime and saw that it was a Quantum Hunter Largo, before Robert launched it behind the house and sent it into the Slime Sea.

Tiffany cursed loudly as she cradled her hand. "That fat bastard bit me!"

Brent walked up to Tiffany. "Are you okay?"

Tiffany sighed. "I'll be fine. Just hurts a bunch." She held up her hand and saw that the largo that had bit her had drawn some blood.

Robert sighed. "At least the slimes are not poisonous. Except for the Rad Slimes. They can give you radiation poisoning." He said, holstering his Vacgun.

Tiffany looked up at Robert with an angry stare. "You pulled it too hard from my hand, Rob. You made my hand bleed."

Robert nodded. "Sorry about that. I can bandage it up if you want me to."

Tiffany paused for a couple seconds before settling on an answer. "Fine. I'm still mad at you though."

"How did the largo get in Beatrix's habitation unit?" Samantha was silent up until then.

Brent carefully looked inside of Beatrix's house. He found no signs of other slimes hiding inside. "... I don't see any more in here."

Tiffany pouted. "I guess the Quantum Hunter used his ghost to teleport into Beatrix's house when we weren't looking."

Robert groaned as he turned to Brent. "So about you mentioning leader slimes earlier. Have any other things you'd like to share with us that we should know?"

Brent nodded at Robert. "We should be more careful in the future."

"Hm." Robert responded in a respectful huff.

As Brent's team filed into Beatrix's house, they were unaware that they were silently being watched.

Watched by someone wearing an oversized trench coat and a fedora.

* * *

**A/N: Action-filled preludes, baby!**


	6. The Dark Underground

**The Dark Underground**

* * *

Brent hurriedly slid forward until he hit a wall. He then changed directions, but hit another wall. He changed directions and fell down. He felt like he slipped through a tunnel that was small enough to let only him through, but he felt as though he wounded up in a completely different chamber.

Navigating through an underground cavern with sheer darkness blinding ones eyesight was a horrifying experience. The only senses that darkness didn't take was touch, smell, taste, and sound. But even though Brent had four out of the five senses at his disposal, that still left Brent with fewer options to navigate the pitch black darkness than he was comfortable with.

He would have loved to have **some** light to guide him through this cavernous maze!

"Gah. Alright, calm down. You're not in danger. Just... Calmly think. Think through the situation."

He lost count how many times he bumped into a wall, and he was so sure that there was a few times he had nearly fallen down a deep precipice of no return. Brent was unsure if he was capable of surviving a fall from a steep cliff, but he wasn't about to find out. Brent may have no bones as a pink slime, but he wasn't about to test his durability.

The cave had a dank, old smell to it. Whatever decay or life finds itself into this environment would undoubtedly be eaten by scavengers and extremophiles. Dangers that might have been more dangerous than those green giants might have lived here, but Brent figured that facing such nameless demons would have been better than dealing with that hunter that tried to skewer him earlier. As far as Brent could tell, the air also smelled somewhat clean, which Brent hoped had meant that it has no dangerous life inhabiting it.

However, there was another issue Brent faced. Food. There was very little he could find in this environment that was edible. He could smell a rodent or bug scurrying around, and he found himself chasing after them on occasion. The diet of the slimes usually consisted of the fruits, vegetables, and chickens that grew abundantly on the Far, Far Range. However, Brent had to make due with whatever was available. The small cave spiders and cave rats he seldomly found in the darkness were yucky tasting, but it was better than starving.

However, he learned in high school that various breeds of bats had the ability to navigate in complete darkness, using their enormous ears to listen to faint sounds and screeching in sound frequencies only they could hear. Brent technically didn't have ears, but he did seem to be able to hear vibrations carried through the air all the same. Brent experimented with his mouth and made a sharp click sound. His clicking noise came back to him in an echo. Good. He will have to teach himself to gauge his echo in order to navigate the underground cavern he was lost in.

Once he taught himself how to use his own form of echolocation in the darkness of the cave, he was getting better at navigating through the darkness. At least he wasn't hitting his head on any more walls or falling down into another precipice!

Brent smiled. "So far so good."

But this smothering darkness Brent was in remained eerily calm, despite his mouth clicks, despite the occasional dripping of water, and despite the scurrying of verminous animals using the caves as a rest area before the night comes. Brent felt alone.

His mind reminisced about the memories he was able to remember, yet he still continued to focus on traveling through the constant darkness that made the cave so ominous. From what past conversations he remembered having with the bodyguard and two scientists, they were a search party that had a specialized set of skills. The 7Zee Corporation hired them with two purposes in mind: find Beatrix Lebeau and research why the slimes of the Far, Far Range are acting up. However, the three people chosen to form the team were still undermanned, and they insisted that they needed someone that had the skills to track people. Brent always thought he had a knack for finding people or things that were either lost or hiding.

As Brent traveled through the tunnels and chambers deep underground, he couldn't help but thought he was seeing the shadows move around him. But as he marched on with his slimy self, he noticed some faint light coming from somewhere. It could be his mind playing tricks on himself, but on a whim, he decided to follow its source.

That was when he saw it, a far distance away and across a still pool of black cave water.

A ray of hope.

A floating light, hovering just above the ground.

And what he saw both surprised him and baffled him.

It was a Phosphor Slime, being closely followed by a Rock Slime and a Tabby Slime.

Brent blinked his eyes. How did these slimes end up here?

However, not to stare at a gift horse in the mouth, or in this case, allow a small party of slimes to leave him in the dark, Brent floated across the black underground lake and followed behind the three slimes.

He would have liked to thank them personally, but Brent knew that slimes were incapable of talking. So, Brent had elected to remain quiet as he tailed behind them, allowing the Phosphor Slime to lead him and its two followers through the darkness.

Brent wondered. Would these three slimes act negatively to Brent if he was still a human? Would they act negatively if they found out he used to be human? Would that even matter to them when the world they are on is not the Far, Far Range?

A silent sigh escaped Brent as he followed the three slimes. At least they were company. They might not provide human companionship like Robert, Samantha, or Tiffany could offer, but it was better than nothing.

As Brent followed the three slimes, he quietly prayed that his three friends were safe and well.

* * *

**Prelude 6**

* * *

Morning had came along, the ever brightening twilight granting a sliver of growing warmth to the Far, Far Range. Another sunrise rose over the planet for the umpteenth time.

Brent sighed as he got up at six in the morning. His feet were kicked gently as Robert walked over him. "Out of your sleeping bag, sleeping beauty."

Brent cursed under his breath as he emerged from his sleeping bag, the cool air stinging mercilessly against his warm skin. Brent was thankful that he brought some provisions that enabled him some comfort staying at Beatrix's ranch.

Brent took note of everyone's morning routines.

Tiffany was slow to wake up since she was a messy sleeper. She seemed to complain with non-responsive groans when she brushed her teeth and brushed her hair. It was only after she ate her morning meal that she transformed into the personality Brent was familiar with. If it were not for mornings, she would always have that beaming, smiling face.

Samantha was more the same, but was more bitter than Tiffany. Brent couldn't fault her, since she had to sacrifice coffee upon leaving for the Far, Far Range. To substitute her lack of coffee, she drank carrot juice instead. Brent can understand her bitterness with familiarity. He wondered if he should share his coffee-flavored breakfast bars with her?

Robert woke up, got dressed, brushed his teeth, and ate quickly. He acted much like a clockwork man. Brent assumed that his military training had conditioned him to be an efficient soldier, so his morning routine was simple and quick. Brent suspects he only acts like a hard-ass mainly because he was paid to guard the investigation team from any dangers that the slimes might throw their way.

Once everyone's routines were complete, Samantha took her cup of carrot juice and went to the computer to bring up a map. "If I may direct your attention to the computer terminal for a second."

Brent stopped eating his fried oca oca hash browns, Tiffany paused eating a grilled pogofruit, and Robert brushed crumbs of scrambled hen hen eggs and carrots off his mouth and chest.

Samantha pointed at the bottom of the map in an orange area. "For those of you that don't know," She turned to stare at Brent. "which means you, Brent," She then turned back to the map. "we are here at a place known as The Dry Reef Ranch, which is surrounded by a stretch of land known as the Dry Reef. It is inhabited by pink slimes, rock slimes, and tabby slimes. North east from here is the Indigo Quarry, which is an area that is rich with a mineral known as Indigonium, and happens to be a hot spot for rock slimes, crystal slimes, boom slimes, rad slimes, but mostly pink slimes. The terrain consists of rocky outcrops and winding underground tunnels. Farther North and to the west of us is The Moss Blanket. Its natives are pink slimes, tabby slimes, honey slimes, boom slimes, and hunter slimes. Farther north from here, past the Indigo Quarry and directly east of the Moss Blanket, sits the Ancient Ruins. Pink slimes, rock slimes, tabby slimes, a smattering of boom slimes, and quantum slimes live there. Last time we were there, we were ambushed by a horde of hunter largos. We barely made it out of there."

Tiffany rose her hand up. "You are forgetting about the phosphor slimes. They always make an appearance when nighttime comes, and they pop out of the ground in all of the biomes."

Samantha gave Tiffany an unamused stare. "I was getting to that, Tiff."

Tiffany stuck out her tongue playfully. "Just wanted to make sure Brent was informed."

"Anyway." Samantha went back to her map. "There are two paths leading to the Ancient Ruins. One path takes us through the Indigo Quarry. The other path leads to the Moss Blanket. Both paths have their dangers, but they end at the entrance of the Ancient Ruins. Those ruins is where our Beatrix was last seen."

Brent studied the map for a few seconds. "Any dangers we should expect?"

Robert shook his head. "Slimes, but I doubt they would be too much of a problem. Heck, judging from all the Tarr we fought yesterday, I'd say this area is completely clean of most aggressive slimes."

Samantha shook her head at Robert. "But we all went to bed after the Tarr invasion. I would think the slimes had enough time to repopulate the land and pose a danger to us again."

Tiffany gestured to Samantha's map. "Disregarding any potential dangers we might face along the way, I say both paths are equally viable. The Moss Blanket is a pretty jungle, but it has hunter slimes in it. The Indigo Quarry might have winding and twisting underground tunnels, but it has other dangerous slimes inhabiting the area."

Robert nodded. "Yeah. I say we're just spoiled for choice at this point." Robert turned to Brent with a smirk. "How about it, Brent? Want to be the one to decide on which path we should take?"

Brent smiled as he pointed at the blue section of the map. "Well... I think we should go through the Indigo Quarry path. It's shorter than going around and through the Moss Blanket."

Tiffany sighed. "At least we don't have to deal with hunter slimes. ... Hopefully..." She said, rubbing her hand.

Samantha walked to her Vacpack that was next to her sleeping bag. "They shouldn't be a problem, so long as we keep a lookout for them."

"So we're going through the curving underground passages, instead of going through the scenic route? Sounds good to me." Robert grunted as he got up from his seat. "Alright then. Let's head out."

Brent took one final bite of his hash browns before joining with his team and leaving for the Ancient Ruins.

* * *

The team of two scientists and body guard went through the Dry Reef area with little trouble, though their usual composition of members now included one more person that was added to their roster. A private investigator, hired for the purpose of finding a missing rancher, and to a lesser extent, assist the scientists to find out why the slimes are rebelling against humanity.

Brent and his team had went through the Dry Reef biome with very little trouble. The orange-tinted area smelled heavily of salt and crusty trees as wild hen hens and roostros search for high crannies to make their nests in. The slimes of this world must have been overjoyed when chickens and carrots were introduced to their ecosystem. New pure slimes popped out of the ground as Brent's team walked through, but they had no need to stay for very long. Brent was happy to realize that newly spawned slimes were actually quite docile. Save for the rock slimes that spawned near the cave entrance that lead to the Indigo Quarry, and the pink phosphor largos that spawned in the passage further in the cave.

Further along the way, Brent and his team eventually entered The Indigo Quarry. The biome was quite different from The Dry Reef. It had the same salty, slimy smell that the Dry Reef had, but the rock structures all around them was more blue, purple, and gray in color. Much of that area was somewhat more populated compared to the Dry Reef, but it certainly had its dangers, consisting of rock slimes, rad slimes, and boom slimes. As they passed through the area, Brent noted that he saw no signs of crystal slimes. Tiffany was quick to inform him that crystal slimes inhabited the more extreme places of the Indigo Quarry, as well as certain locales located elsewhere on the Far, Far Range.

After passing through some winding tunnels, and avoiding more dangerous slimes that are hazardous to their health, Brent's team went over a bridge and went through yet another passage. Brent took note that he saw a circular frame he thought he remembered seeing before. Samantha informed him that, apparently, they were slime gates that were closed by an older rancher that had lived in the ranch before passing the deed on to Beatrix. For some reason, the old rancher, named Hob Twillgers, decided to close the gates and to encourage Beatrix to find the keys that allowed her to open them. When the search parties began their search, they found that the gates were in a closed state upon finding them, which had suggested that Beatrix had followed Hob's eccentric tradition.

When Brent's team emerged from that tunnel, his mouth went ajar and eyes snapped open as he beheld a mystical sight. Yellow/gold trees painted the area with a serene peacefulness. Ancient stones of unknown make and origin were messily scattered all around the area, while some structures of older times somehow remained, still standing strong. It was like looking at a picture from a book of a fairy tale, except it popped-out at him like he was being immersed in a hyper-realistic virtual reality movie.

Tiffany tapped at Brent's chin to snap him out of it. "Okay, enough sightseeing. The Ancient Ruins awaits us."

"What the hell?" Samantha said aloud in an annoyed and surprised tone.

"What?" Robert asked, looking at Samantha.

"What happened to the big gate?!" Samantha asked aloud, pointing at a circular structure that looked over the courtyard.

Tiffany blinked. "Uh... Is that normal?" She asked numbly.

Robert scratched his head. "Wait, uh... What are we looking at here?"

As Robert, Samantha and Tiffany walked up to the circular structure, Brent began to understand why they were so startled. Apparently, the large circular structure was supposed to be an opening of some sort. However, entry through it was blocked by something Brent had ever saw before. Balls of mud were wedged tightly together, forming a barrier that prevented anyone from passing through. Robert was the first to walk up to the wall. He inspected it with a probing left hand, only to knock the wall a few times. It sounded hard as rock.

Once Robert was done analyzing the wall, he turned to Tiffany and Samantha. "... I think I see what's wrong here now."

Samantha rolled her eyes. "Well duh. We all do."

Tiffany's eyes scanned the wall of mud balls in deep thought. "... I think I saw this somewhere before."

Brent placed his hands on his hips as he looked up and down at the wall with scrutiny and annoyance. "So wait, we can't go through here? Isn't there another way around this gate?"

Samantha banged on the wall of mud balls with a rock in her hand. The rock in her hand split in three pieces, while the mud ball she chose as her target had only a chalky dent of battle damage. Samantha hissed at her attempt to get through. "No good. Unless we gathered a bunch of boom slimes and set them all off at once, or have some dynamite mailed to us, we're not getting past this."

Brent clenched his teeth. "So this is the only way in?"

Samantha looked at Brent. "Yeah. The only one." She answered simply, in a defeated tone.

Brent grunted a growl as he turned around and looked down at the ground. He then began to look around himself. An idea formed. He turned back to Samantha with a determined expression. "Maybe not on foot."

Samantha blinked. "Huh?"

Before Brent could explain, he jumped into the air and scrabbled up a nearby sunburst tree, using his jetpack to grant him additional leverage. He was able to scale up to the top of the tree, though he stood on the top rather uneasily. Samantha watched Brent with surprise and puzzlement. Robert also started to watch Brent, but more out of indifference. Tiffany broke her transfixed stare on the mudball wall to look up at Brent, her expression filled with wonderment and curiosity.

Brent pointed at the top of the big slime gate. "If we can't go through there on foot, then we'll go over it! With jetpacks!" Brent demonstrated his solution by hovering through the air and landing on the top of the stone arch that formed the big slime gate. Once he got on top of the gate, he looked down at his team and raised his hands triumphantly. "Like this!"

Samantha smiled and shook her head. "You're a mad lad, but I'd be monkey's aunt if I said that was a clever solution to our problem."

"But on the other hand, we don't have to wait for any dynamite in the mail." Robert looked at Samantha questioningly. "Also, I think you messed up that metaphor, Sam."

Samantha jumped and floated toward the sunburst tree. "We can argue semantics later. We have a ruin to investigate."

"ME NEXT!" Tiffany took to the sky as she scrabbled up the tree after Samantha.

Robert chuckled and shook his head. "Slow down before you get yourselves hurt. I can't always be there to protect you." He said before following behind Samantha and Tiffany.

Brent turned to view the other side of the big slime gate to beheld something that was also awe inspiring. A large structure was set before him, and it seemed quite ancient. Moss and lichen covered the surface of this old structure, which must have remained like that for countless years. Thankfully, he saw no signs of feral largos patrolling the area below him, but he could easily assume that the structure contained dangerous slimes that might prove dangerous to Brent and his team. On the other hand, he could find clues about Beatrix's whereabouts within that structure. Or perhaps somewhere near the structure. It's a lot of ground to cover, but Brent was confident that he would discover a clue or hint about Beatrix's whereabouts.

Brent cracked the joints in his knuckles as he prepared himself. "Right. Time to investigate the scene."

* * *

A few hours had passed as Brent searched high and low. He didn't know what he was trying to look for, but he figured that if a single clue could still be found after a rancher had disappeared for six months, then he figured it would be hidden somewhere in an area that would put most museums to shame. However, moss, lichen, vines, and various weeds had eaten into the ancient stones for the greater part of its history, and that made looking for clues pointing to where Beatrix might have been even harder.

If Brent had been summoned to the Far, Far Range sooner, then the investigation would have went along more smoothly. To look for clues of Beatrix's whereabouts in the current condition that the Ancient Ruins was in would certainly make Brent's efforts strained.

But at least Samantha and Tiffany were off doing their own research, with Robert carefully ensuring that they don't get into trouble.

Samantha had need to come back to the Ancient Ruins. She had little time to investigate and research the area last time she was here, due to the aggressive slimes forcing her to leave every time she came to this place. She was content to just look at the 'switches' that opened and closed the enormous glass doors that was installed into the Ancient Ruins long ago. However, her research was only academic in nature.

Tiffany had another task: Researching the slimes. Her task was far more important, because she needed to discover the reason why the slimes have became so aggressive six months ago. So far, her progress as of the past month had lead to many dead ends and unfortunate discoveries, but everything she had learned so far resulted in data that was inconclusive. Brent saw that Tiffany's expression was a mix between sour and worried. Was she troubled by something?

Robert's job couldn't be any easier. Protect the investigation team. Protect Samantha as she looks at old buildings. Protect Tiffany as she looks at slimes. And protect Brent as he looks for clues and find where Beatrix had disappeared to. Simple. Easy. But the slimes have continued to hassle them at every turn, making his job a bit more complicated than he would have liked. Still, it was good money, and good money was hard to turn down for someone with his set of skills.

Brent looked high and low, under rocks and through bushes, betwixt pillars and statues, in ponds, and clearings, and underground chambers, but found nothing. Not even a message that blatantly said 'I'm over here!' and then pointed Brent in the right direction. He silently cursed as he used his Vacgun to nudge some slimes out of the way of his investigation. Six months was an awfully long time for a single person to remain missing. But on an alien world where human civilization had strained resources? Brent was sent to look for a silver needle in a silver haystack.

Brent sighed as he walked toward Tiffany, looking at some harmless puddle slimes in a pond. "Any luck?"

Tiffany shook her head. "No. I can't focus."

Brent thought as much. "Why's that? You're usually very ecstatic about a lot of things. What's been eating you?"

Tiffany shot Brent a glance of amusement before looking at the puddle slimes again. "That gate was blocked by a wall of mudballs, Brent. I don't know why, but it feels like the slimes are trying to keep us out of the Ancient Ruins."

Brent raised an eyebrow. "You think they are preventing us from finding Beatrix?"

Tiffany shook her head. "They could be protecting her."

Brent raised both eyebrows. "What makes you think that?"

"I don't know." Tiffany looked at Brent. "It's on the top of my head, but I think I remember seeing those mudballs somewhere before."

"Do you know what made them?" Brent asked.

Before Tiffany was about to answer, Samantha walked up to them and interrupted their conversation, Robert walking in tow. "I think we've searched here for long enough. We're going to the northern ruins. You coming?"

Tiffany and Brent looked up at Samantha. Brent sighed while Tiffany stretched her legs. "Yeah, yeah, we're coming." Brent replied.

Brent regrouped with his team and traveled north. As they went through some glass doors, and carefully around a few boom largos that they avoided, Brent was walking down a ramp that was blocked by yet another sliding-glass door switch. Another ruin awaited Brent and his team, and they approached it. That was when Brent noticed another circular structure. This time it was a closed slime gate.

Brent looked at the gate. "Hmm..."

Samantha smiled as she saw what Brent had discovered. "A slime gate. And it's locked."

Brent looked back at Samantha. "So this is what they look like closed, huh? Can we get through this one?"

Samantha nodded as she pulled a dark gray and pink key from her person. "Yes we can. With this."

Brent blinked. "Where did you get that?"

Samantha walked up to the slime gate and inserted her key into the keyhole. "A slime gordo was hiding it inside of its body."

"A gordo? That's one of those super largo slimes, right?" Brent asked, watching as the door rotated to complete an engraving before sinking into the ground.

Samantha nodded. "Yes, but they are technically not largos. They're perfectly harmless and completely immobile. All they do is eat whatever you shoot into their mouth until they explode."

"But then they leave behind a bunch of pure slimes based on what time of slime the gordo was. But even so, it is rare for a gordo to form naturally. Unless you have gordo snares." Tiffany added.

As the door finally opened, Robert went in first. He looked left and right and above himself. He gestured to his investigation team. "Looks clear."

"No hunter slimes?" Tiffany asked.

"None that I can see." Robert replied.

"Unless they are hiding." Tiffany said, walking close to Robert.

Brent's team cautiously searched the innards of this ancient temple chamber. It was filled with old air and dust, but it sparked interest to Samantha, if Brent understood her expression clearly. Here eyes went wider as she neared the end of the room. Brent could see why she became so excited. There was a strangely designed enclosure at the end of the room, which contained five slime statues that had quantum plorts in their mouths. At the center of these statues laid an ornately designed circle of stone with an enormous gemstone that vibrated with power. It was creating a field of energy that was the unmistakable distortion of a teleporter.

Samantha smiled as she inspected it. "An ancient teleporter."

"Ancient? What built it?" Brent asked Samantha.

"It was made during a forgotten age." Samantha said, walking up to a statue and probing its side with a hand. "Nobody knows who or what built this warp station, or how long ago. Apparently, the popular opinion many believe in is that this civilization was obsessed with the slimes of the Far, Far Range. We assumed that their economy and industry was based around the slimes and their plorts. It would explain how the slime statues operated when certain types of plorts are fitted in their mouths. However, he have no records of who they are, what they looked like, or how their civilization disappeared."

Brent blinked. "Do you think this planet's past tenants moved off-world?"

Samantha smiled at Brent. "That was everyone's conclusion. But thanks to them, our modern day Warp Tech wouldn't have been developed had it not been based off of this ancient technology."

Robert huffed. "I would have guessed the slimes had eaten them instead."

Samantha shrugged and sighed. "Well... From what we have been through, I suppose your theory also has its own plausibility."

Suddenly, Tiffany groaned loudly, her face contorted into anger and frustration. "Oh nooooooooooooooooooooo, I now remembered where I saw those mudballs before."

Brent, Samantha, and Robert all turned to look at Tiffany. "What is it, Tiff?" Robert asked.

"Saber largos." Tiffany answered.

Samantha blinked. "... Saber largos?"

"Saber largos are the only slimes known to make mudballs." Tiffany explained in pained realization.

Samantha stared dumbly. "... But Saber Largos are only found on The Wilds. Why would they be here? And why would they make them into a wall and stop us entering the ruins?"

Robert groaned. "You ask us that question expecting an answer, but you already know that this behavior from the slimes isn't normal." He looked behind himself and paused. He immediately tensed as he pointed his Vacgun behind the group. "BEHIND US!"

And speaking of Saber Largos, there was an army of them that was slowly approaching them at the far end of the warp station room.

* * *

**A/N: Anyone played Natural Selection 2? Anyone familiar with the Gorge unit? Anyone familiar with the Clogs they make to create obstacles for their human opponents? I'd imagine those mudballs are very pliant when freshly created, and could be used in the same way. Now imagine how difficult it would be to clear away a wall of mudballs that had time to dry.  
**


	7. The Shrubland Past the Gashed Mountain

**The Shrubland Past the Gashed Mountain**

* * *

Hours had passed by. It was a silent journey through the black darkness that shrouded the caverns, where only a mote of organic light provided safe passage. The trek was long, yet it went on quietly. There was only the deafening silence of gently flapping wings of a phosphor slime and the sliding of three terrestrial slimes that made muted echos in the cave's halls. A library could never be as taciturn as this cavern. Perhaps a dead one, but even abandoned books told stories in their pages. This cave? The stone walls, rocks, and even the air itself once held a long conversation that went undisturbed for centuries. The intruders into the cave's innards stopped the conversation, which transformed into an awkward silence.

Brent, though trailing behind three slimes, found himself wanting for better company. Someone to talk to. Someone to laugh with. Share his feelings. His fears. His secrets. Anything to pass the time. Maybe make a joke or two. Those green giants would probably be better conversationalists compared to these dumb and mindless slimes. Sure, they might have talked in a strange form of cockney accent, but Brent would have preferred that over what might be described as **literally** nothing.

Brent could just imagine the conversation in his head...

_'Well dis iz a right quiet place. Needs more music 'n ere.'_

_'Yeah, I fink I kould have brought a guitar or electric piano or whateva musical instruments our race plays.'_

_'Betta someth'n dan noth'n. Oi! I got a brilliant idea!'_

_'Out wit' it den. Let's hear it.'_

_'We kould make up a song!'_

_'Yeah! A proppa an green giant wun!_

_'Ooooohhhhhh, 'oo live's 'n a pineapple unda da sea~?'_

Brent nearly chuckled aloud. He didn't. He wouldn't dare break the quiet camaraderie he developed with the slimes he was following.

However, he doubted they were even aware of him. But could he be faulted? The slimes back at the Far, Far Range were aggressive, hostile, and dangerous! He feared that if he began to talk, then the slimes might scatter into the darkness. Or worse, they would go after him and swallow him whole. Although, considering his current... predicament, Brent was unsure on how the three slimes would react to him. Or realized he could even talk at all. Or realized if he was once a human, the very same species they rebelled against six months ago.

Although, Brent had no real reference when it came to the current date and time. He didn't have his holophone with him to tell the time or date. And where would he store his holophone? In his pocket? Oh wait. Slimes had no pockets, and he was now a slime on a world he was **fairly sure** wasn't the Far, Far Range.

Brent quietly cursed, damning his lack of pockets.

When will this pandering travel through the ebony shadows of the underworld ever stop?

Brent feared that he might suffer from starvation before long. And if that happened... What would happen if he found nothing to eat?

The phosphor slimes stopped in the air for a few seconds. As those few seconds finally passed, it then flew forward with renewed vigor, the rock slime and tabby slime following in tow. Brent followed after them, barely recognizing the change in behavior. However, as they rounded a corner, Brent was able to see something up ahead. It was a different source of light. Was it daylight? The cave felt a tiny bit warmer. The air felt fresher. The cent of grass was smelled.

Brent felt a slight pang of hope well inside of him.

"That looks like light up ahead." The tabby slime said. "I wonder what's on the other side?"

"WAIT, YOU CAN TALK?!" Brent practically yelled, startled by the tabby slime's observation, surprised by her ability to communicate, angry that he didn't know about this sooner, and mortified that it was at this very moment that the group of slimes finally became aware of his presence.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH~!" Screamed the phosphor slime.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH~!" Screamed the tabby slime.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH~!" Screamed the rock slime.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH~!" Screamed Brent.

An awkward silence filled the air seconds after everyone stopped screaming.

The silence in the cave seemed much more peaceful and less awkward.

This silence near the exit of the cave seemed much more awkward and less peaceful.

Brent wanted to go back into the cave.

The rock slime slowly approached Brent. "... You're... a pink slime."

Brent was silent for a few seconds. "... Apparently."

"Hmm... I think I got an idea." The rock slime blinked its eyes a few times, apparently thinking about something. "... Tell me something only Brent would know.'

Brent's eyes widened. "What?! How do you know my name?"

The rock slime turned to the phosphor and tabby slimes. "Welp, he's Brent."

The phosphor slime rushed into Brent, squishing him into the wall. "OH-MAH-GAWSH-I-DIDN'T-KNOW-YOU-WERE-OKAY-WE-THOUGHT-YOU-WERE-DEAD-AND-WE-LEFT-YOU-THERE-AND-WE-DIDN'T-KNOW-WE-ARE-SO-SORRY!"

Brent tried to struggle under the slime that smothered his face, but he could not move or get away. He was too overwhelmed by the slime practically squishing him and by the fact that this was happening.

The tabby slime looked at the rock slime with amusement. "Really? That was your big idea?"

The rock slime seemed to make a shrug. "He answered honestly. No actor that mastered the art of lying could pull off a response like that. And believe me, I can tell if someone is lying."

"Then how can you tell if a **slime** is lying?" Asked the tabby slime.

"You think a slime has the knowledge or talent to make up lies? Or talk? Or respond to us like a human being? I'm telling you, this pink slime is Brent."

The tabby slime sighed and shook its head, turning to the phosphor slime. "Tiff, you're going to kill him doing that."

The phosphor slime, named Tiff apparently, immediately released Brent. "OH-MAH-GAWSH-I'M-SORRY-I'M-SORRY-I'M-SORRY-I'M-SORRY-I'M-SORRY-I'M-SORRY!"

Brent shook his face. "What the hell is going on?! How do you guys know my name?!"

The tabby slime went up to Brent with a level, yet calm expression. "Brent. It's us. Remember? The two scientists and bodyguard you traveled with? We were investigating a disappearance on the Far, Far Range? Samantha Samarin? Tiffany Glasstalon? Robert Rodrick? Do you know those names?"

Brent stared the tabby slime dead in her eyes. He was speechless. "What?"

The phosphor slime, apparently named 'Tiffany Glasstalon', looked at Brent with worry. "Did I break him?"

Brent, after a herculean effort to will the pieces of his shattered and blown mind together, looked at the three slimes. "... How... How did you turn into slimes?! How did **I** turn into a slime?! HOW IN ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THE **UNIVERSE** DID WE GET **HERE?!**"

Samantha took a turn to squish into Brent, but did it for the purposes of shutting him up. "Shut up! We don't need any more yelling!" She turned to the rock slime. "Robert? Can you check if there are orks outside of this cave?" Robert nodded and slipped up the cave tunnel. Samantha looked back at Brent. "Okay. I'm going to get off of your face. If you yell again, then I'm jumping right back on it again. You understand?"

Brent responded with a rapid nod.

Samantha slid off of Brent slowly.

An awkward pause corrupted the air in the cave again.

Robert slid back through the tunnel he exited from and met up with Brent, Tiffany, and Samantha. "Looks clear. I see no orks, gretchins, snotlings or their red buildings."

"Mind telling me how this all began? Why were you traveling through the caves?" Brent asked Tiffany, Samantha and Robert.

"We were no longer safe, so we decided to chance going through the caverns. Tiffany's glowing butt really helped, but we constantly got lost." Samantha answered. Tiffany puffed her cheeks angrily, but Samantha continued with a question of her own. "How long were you following us?"

Brent tried to think. "Uh... Several hours, I guess? ... Wait. Orks?"

Robert nodded. "Yes. Orks. That's what they call themselves. Listen. Maybe we should sit down and take this from the top?"

Brent sighed. "... Good idea. Before I ask why these green giants call themselves by the name of a fantasy race of a dice-rolling role playing board game, allow me to ask the million newbuck question. How did we end up in this place as slimes?"

Tiffany, Samantha, and Robert looked at each other before sighing. They prepared themselves to tell their stories.

* * *

**Prelude 7**

* * *

Four humans lay slumped on the ground. One, a bodyguard. Two were scientists of different fields of research that the bodyguard protected. And lastly was an investigator, whom was recently transferred to the Far, Far Range only a day ago. And now, this team of investigators narrowly escaped a fate that would have been unpleasant had they been caught in the saber largos' ambush. At least to Brent it felt like it was an ambush. However, they were no longer in the Ancient Ruins. They were now somewhere else.

Robert arched his back as he got off of the ground, looking up and around. "... Those damn saber largos almost pancaked and ate us."

Tiffany was gasping, somewhat still in shock of what nearly happened to her. "At... At least we fell through the teleporter in time."

Samantha hissed as she glared at the duplicate warp station that its sister was connected to. "Looks like they're not following us in."

Brent propped himself up with unsteady legs, as his adrenaline was finally receding. "Yeah, but where in the Far, Far Range did the teleporter take us?"

The four humans got up from the ground to look around. They seemed to be in the same building as before. However, it was... different. Brent tasted the air and noted it was somehow dry and hot. There were piles of sand that was strewn on the floor and on the sides of the room. And the roof of the ceiling had openings to the outside. And the distortion of warp that was emitted by the ancient teleporter didn't exist on this side.

When Brent and his team reached the exit of this building, they saw that they were in a completely different area entirely.

It was a desert, with giant glass structures in the shape of fire dotting all around their immediate landscape. They saw that the sands beyond the horizon shifted with an unusual grace, as though it moved like water. Brent has never seen something so beautiful in his life.

Samantha was also awestruck with what her eyes were able to perceive. When she was done processing what she saw, she voiced her observation. "No way... The ancient warp station's teleporter led us to the Glass Desert!"

Brent turned to Samantha, somewhat surprised by her expression of stunned surprise. "Is that good or bad for us?"

"Not just bad, but bad AND worse for us. With the teleporter on our end turned off, there's no way we can get back. That's bad." Samantha said.

Robert grimaced. "We'd survive for three days without water, and that's not counting the water we have stored in our Vacpacks."

Tiffany sighed. "Good thing we brought that portable water tap with us."

Brent looked at the warp station behind themselves for several seconds. A thought had occurred. "Hang on. I think I might know how Beatrix went missing."

Tiffany, Samantha, and Robert all looked at Brent.

Brent pointed at the warp station behind them. "Isn't it obvious? The malfunction in the teleporter network must have started here. And if it started here, then therefore, the Glass Desert is where we will find Beatrix."

Tiffany's eyes brightened. "Oh! That makes a whole bunch of sense actually! But... Whatever happened to her Vacpack? Didn't the reports say that her Vacpack activated its distress beacon at the Ancient Ruins?"

"I think I know what happened to it." Samantha said, pointing at a golden colored object at the ground.

Brent went to the object and picked it up. It looked like a piece to some broken equipment, but it was mangled and damaged. After looking at it from different angles, he could see what it is. A piece of hardware from a Vacpack, now reduced to a piece of junk. It was definitely a clue. A big clue that pointed Brent in the right way.

Robert walked up to Brent to inspect his finding. "Hmm... Goldleaf color scheme. I did hear that Beatrix was a valued member of the 7Zee rewards club. This is definitely hers."

Samantha walked up to Brent next. "But why does it look like it was torn away by a heavy set of claws? Did a slime do this?"

Tiffany shook her head. "The bite strength of slimes are capable of crushing chicken bones. This Vacpack has been built using Blue Metal, a type of alloy that uses rock plorts in its construction, which is stronger than titanium and lighter than plastic. I doubt slimes could do this sort of damage."

Brent nodded. "So this tech is hard as brass balls to damage... If I were a gambling man... I'd probably bet there was some foul play afoot." Brent then turned to his investigation team. "Ms. Beatrix Lebeau is somewhere in this area. I need everyone to be careful here. Whatever damaged Beatrix's Vacpack could damage our Vacpacks too, so be cautious and travel in pairs. I don't know what to expect in this environment, so be on your guard."

Samantha nodded as he nonchalantly pulled on Brent's arm. "The same thing also goes for you. Please step inside."

Brent looked at Samantha with a puzzled expression. "Why?"

She pointed at the sky. Brent looked up and saw the strangest thing ever. Pillars of fire began to form, which threw flaming boulders, manifested glints, and spawned fire slimes. The destruction they wrought was terrifying to witness, but such force also forced Brent to stare in awe. "Solar anomalies." Samantha explained. "Researchers believe that the glass in the Glass Desert absorbs energies produced by the Far, Far Ranges' sun, which is suddenly released after reaching a certain threshold. It gets so hot that it'll burn you to cinders. It's dangerous to walk out there when it hits."

Brent paused for a long time before turning to Samantha. "How long do they last?"

"Roughly an hour." Samantha estimated.

Brent nodded. "Then we better set down that portable water tap now. When the storm settles, we'll search for clues, and for food. We'll take turns sleeping so we won't get caught surprised."

Robert nodded back at Brent. "I'll take first watch."

Tiffany blinked a few times. "And I'll... um... I'll guard the water tap?" She said, sounding uncertain.

Samantha huffed. "It's not going to be easy getting back in contact with civilization. We might be stuck out here, unless we decided to jump in the sand and got the Automated Rancher Recovery Robots to help us out."

Brent looked up at the solar anomaly, a stern and focused expression plastered onto his face. Something didn't set right with him. It was a terrible gut feeling. Brent didn't like whatever indigestion was causing him to feel this subtle queasiness, but Brent had learned to trust his gut when the going gets tough.

Brent felt like he was about to see something horrible, and soon.

* * *

Three days had gone by as Brent continued his investigation.

Tiffany was giddy with excitement as she discovered there were slimes in the Glass Desert region. But much to her chagrin, she couldn't find the reason or cause that made the slimes so hostile to humans. She eventually concluded that the slimes in this area had became incredibly livid, surpassing even the slimes that spawn and live in the Ancient Ruins. The slimes within this area posed their own hazards as well. The tangle slimes could use their vines to grip onto the legs of their victims, temporarily rooting them to a spot, though this rooted the tangle slimes too. Brent and his team learned to be very careful when a tangle largo was teamed up with one or more largos. Dervish slimes were a whirlwind of chaos that kicked up dust, sand, and whatever other objects that could be carried up by strong winds. Despite the cyclones they created, they were capable of launching non-dervish slimes high into the air capable of a seriously dangerous buttstomp pounce! The mosaic slimes had their own dangers as well, capable of producing 'glints' in the air that would explode into flame upon touching the ground. They could be doused by water easily, but a group of mosaic slimes could make certain areas hard to navigate through.

However, the Glass Desert contained its own set of ruins. It was more scorched and sand-worn compared to the Ancient Ruins surrounded by the Slime Sea, yet the two sets of ruins were mysteriously tied together. The ruins in the Glass Desert had its own sea that consisted of flowing, golden sand. What's more she found out that there were statues that activated a specialized kind of fountain that seemed to fill the Vacpack's water tank with unusually charged water. The water's power would vanish after a time, but it proved useful when eliminating the Tarr that popped up on occasion. More surprising was when Samantha accidentally splashed some on a large dry bud. It instantly blossomed before everyone's eyes and began to sprout life all around it! Even spawning slimes! Brent had thought Samantha was over the moon upon discovering the ancient water fountains, but discovering that the wilted oasis plants could bloom when given ancient water hat put a great deal of happiness in her sails.

Fairing the Glass Desert proved to be a challenge. Brent and his investigation team wasn't expecting to take a trip to a hotter climate. However, their adventure had forced them to come closer to the team's more important goal: Finding Beatrix. There were trials, but also respites that put Brent's team at ease. The oasis plants provided an effective method to rid any Tarr that dared pursue Brent or his teammates. But the oasis plants also provided areas in which slimes could spawn, and they did so in the close proximity of their food sources. Largos became commonplace, which often made Brent and his Team retreat to safer locations. To Brent's relief, they seemed to stay away from the temple that he and his team decided to make into their temporary headquarters. It might be far away from the comforts provided by the Dry Reef Ranch, but it was sanctuary. Though sand could be pushed around to form beds that supported the spine, the sand itself still got everywhere. Though the sand were beautiful granules of gold, it quickly became horribly uncomfortable when the sand crept into crevices, including human crevices.

The food they found in the Glass Desert was... interesting. Somehow, carrots, heartbeats, pogofruit and cuberries grew there, with the addition of two other plants that Samantha quickly coveted, but instantly regretted eating. The prickle pear was a fruit that had a thorny defense around itself, and Samantha spent much of her time using a rock to rub off the fruit's pointy barbs. Though the fruit was quite delicious, Samantha whined that it was too much work to safely eat. The silver parsnips were also another food she relented to eat, since its metallic aftertaste, however slight, made her think of the horror stories she heard of as a child. Some of those stories involved radiation poisoning. Tiffany would never forget Samantha's face when she saw a painted hen hen for the first time. Neither would Brent. Robert didn't care, though he did smirk when Samantha wasn't looking. Cooking the chickens had been a difficult hurdle to accomplish, until Tiffany thought of putting a group of fire slimes underneath a thin slab of rock. Robert had to cut up the cooked chickens using a survival knife.

But as for Brent's investigation, he traveled and inspected many places for any more clues pertaining to Beatrix's location, with limited results. Brent would mostly get caught in dead ends, but had no problem backtracking to find other clues in other areas. By the end of the third day, the only ruins that was left unchecked was the northern-most ruined temple structure.

And Brent would instantly regret what he would find there.

* * *

**A/N: How ridiculous would it be if slimes could actually talk? :D**


	8. The Start of a New Life

**The Start of a New Life**

* * *

**Prelude 8**

* * *

The day had come where Brent and his team would begin their investigation at the northern ruins of the Glass Desert, having been the last place they hadn't searched for clues in yet. The slimes native to the Dry Desert had given Brent's team some trouble in the past, but they quickly adapted to the desert, thanks to the collaborative effort that each member of Brent's team offered. But little could prepare them for the temple that awaited them at the end of the stone bridge with circular arches, looming ominously over the Sand Sea with its inward-slanted pillars pointing up at the sky, which was now in walking distance.

Brent sighed as he scanned for any additional details he may have missed upon his first cursory inspection of the northern glass desert temple. "Hmm... Alright. I guess we'll look in there today."

Samantha rubbed the sweat off of her forehead. "I really hope we find what we are looking for, whatever and wherever it is." She said tiredly.

Robert grunted. "On the plus side, there isn't a bunch of dervish slimes blocking our way with a bunch of cyclones last time we were here."

Tiffany caught up to Brent and his team, panting heavily. "You guys... Really need to... Slow down sometimes. HOO~!"

Samantha turned to Tiffany. "Welcome back. Glad you can make it. Had fun lagging behind us?"

Tiffany gave Samantha the bird.

Robert rolled his eyes. "You ladies done? We got this last temple to investigate before we move on to better pastures." Robert turned to Brent. "Ready whenever you are."

Brent nodded. "I see nothing out here, so we might as well head inside." Brent motioned for his team to follow as he began walking toward the ruined temple.

After some tinkering with a switch that, curiously, alternates between closing one door and opening another door, the team went through and found themselves within the insides of an ancient structure. It looked so old, Brent thought that it had not been visited for eons, save for, perhaps, Beatrix LeBeau who had traveled to this facility and took refuge in its halls.

As they entered the temple, Brent noticed that it wasn't too dissimilar to the warp station he and his team used to get to the Glass Desert, apart from some dangerous precipices that would have landed careless ranchers inside of the moving Glass Desert's Sand Sea. At least the prickle pear tree they found could supply them with a hydrating snack, if they didn't mind the barbs.

More surprising, however, was the centerpiece of the room. A central structure lied at the center of the chamber, which was next to a series of broken pillars that contained an unknown fluid within them. Brent would say that the fluid inside of these pillars wasn't water, but rather some mixture of solidified slime. Or plorts. Brent wasn't entirely sure. But even so, the pillars back at the other warp station contained similar pillars. Brent wondered if the pillars had a common theme.

However, more curiously was the centerpiece of this temple. It was a small stone gazebo that had an **enormous** gemstone on the top of the building. Several types of ramshackle machines were attached to it, which seemed to supply it with power judging from the Tesla coil towers and electrical generator. Its center crackled with intense energy. The teleporter warp it created was, somehow, more pinkish looking. More chaotic in a way. Brent thought that he was seeing a face past its center.

Robert looked up at the stone gazebo and whistled in surprise. "Damn. I wonder if there's a jewelry store that can make a wedding ring big enough to hold that rock?"

"Too garish for my tastes." Samantha sighed as she walked up to the gazebo. After a few seconds of analysis, she hummed a tone of concern. "Hmm... This stone structure is quite old, yet the devices around it is quite new."

Robert raised his hand and pointed at the stone gazebo. "Meaning... what?"

"That someone tried to use modern technology to repair and supply power to this warp station's teleporter gate." Samantha replied.

Tiffany looked at Brent. "Think it's our Beatrix?"

Brent placed a hand on his chin in thought. "Hard to say. I can only guess is that she, or perhaps someone else, has been trying to jury-rig this ancient teleporter. They were trying to get it to activate. It's different from the teleporter in the Ancient Ruins' Warp Station, but I can only guess it has a similar purpose."

Robert sighed. "Back to square one then?"

Brent shook his head. "No. It means we found another clue. I'm even willing to bet that Beatrix LeBeau is somewhere around here. Look there on the ground."

There was another piece of Vacpack technology on the ground, partially buried in the sand next to the stone pagoda. Samantha nodded. "Ah. More to the mystery, but we still are not closer to finding our missing damsel.

Tiffany blinked at the scrap of Vacpack before looking at the chaos-pink teleporter. "... I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I don't like the look of that teleporter. I have a REALLY bad feeling about this."

_**"As you should."**_

Everyone immediately turned to see a giant eight foot tall man clad in dark blue plated, silver trimmed armor, whom happened to be hiding around the corner. As he approached, Brent could see his eyes, which glowed with dangerous power. He was also adorned in strange seals that was ornately designed in their edges, and carried a staff that glowed an energy similarly to his eyes. Eagle talon fixtures rose from the back of his armor like some predatory display, though Brent knew not its significance or meaning. His face was ancient, fraught with wrinkles, yet somehow beheld uncounted knowledge. He also happened to be bald, with several tubes running into the side of his head, and two devices that were clamped on both of his ears.

"Wuh..." Brent muttered as he took a few paces back.

The giant armored man stared at Brent with a piercing gaze for several seconds before analyzing his team. Robert seemed annoyed by this, and decided to voice his opinion. "Who the hell are you?!"

The giant armored man snarled at Brent. "Be silent, worm. It will be I that shall interrogate you." He waved his staff over Brent and his team and they were succumbed to a great pressure bearing down on them. It was a painful weight, which forced them all to either lay flat on the ground or kneel on one knee. He then barked at his surroundings with impossibly black teeth. "Rubric Mallan! Heretek Galvanis! We have intruders! Contain them so we may divine their intentions later!"

Behind Brent, he could see two figures coming out from corners that were more out-of-view. One was a seven foot tall hunched figure that wore red robes, was tall and had green eyes. Various metal appendages erect out from his back like branches of a metal tree. He spoke in a metallic tone, as though his voice shrilled out from a horn inside of an old bell. [WHAT IS IT, SORCERER? OH, THEY HAVE THOSE DEVICES THE GIRL HAS. I WANT ONE. GIVE ME. GIVE IT. GIVE THEM. I WANT TO DISSECT THEM. LEARN THEM. MAKE THEM. MAKE THEM BETTER. GIVE. I WANT. I WANT THEM. I WANT THEM ALL. I WANT THEM TO GIVE THEM TO ME.] He said, clanging his hands and pseudo-limb graspers together excitedly. He appeared to be some kind of heavily modified cyborg.

The other figure was another giant set of armor, but even bigger than the one bearing that strange yet powerful staff, who achieved a height of ten feet. Though his appearance wasn't as dissimilar as the first armored giant man, this one bore a helmet that had a strange, heavy, flat slab-like adornment on top of their helmet, colored yellow and black. His helmet gleamed golden eyes, which seemed to have no life behind them. Just by moving his hands out to the side was he capable of corralling Brent's entire team, though he had no need to since the staff-wielding sorcerer contained Brent's team. This armored man was as silent as a statue, and had jutting claws that arced dangerously with electricity and a whining metal noise.

Brent felt it in his gut that he was in danger. With herculean effort, he hoisted his Vacgun at the armored man with the strange staff and blasted water onto him.

This disabled his spell, and he spluttered in surprise. The armored man then looked upon his form with puzzlement. "... Is this... water?" A smile of bemusement escaped his throat. A chuckle responded to Brent's rebellion. "A curious weapon. However, I think it is not designed to go against a sorcerer of my power."

At least it gave Tiffany and Samantha a window to escape. They took to the air with their jetpacks, easily dodging the grasps of the cyborg and the clawed giant. The cyborg, apparently named 'Heretek', was unamused by this turn of events. [THEY ARE LEAVING? NO. MUST NOT BE ALLOWED. THEY HAVE TECHNOLOGY. THESE ONES HAVE TECHNOLOGY I NEED. I NEED. GIVE TECHNOLOGY TO ME. I RESEARCH THEM. DO NOT MAKE ME KILL YOU. I WILL RETRIEVE FROM CORPSES IF NEEDED. RESPOND TO REQUEST ACCORDINGLY. STRONGLY SUGGESTED.]

"We need to get out of here and alert the authorities!" Samantha yelled.

"Brent! RUN!" Tiffany screamed as her ankle was almost caught by an armored giant jumping after her.

"GRAH!" Robert lunged at the sorcerer, using his survival knife to stab into the joint of his arm that held his staff.

The knife clinked into his joint, and it delivered enough force to force the sorcerer's staff from his hand. The eight foot tall sorcerer grabbed at the offending arm. A smirk rewarded Robert. "Hmm. You got some battle sense, despite looking so young. You sought to attack my weapon arm. Your foolish bravery shall be met in kind, and I will reward you with an attack to your arm."

Robert's elbow was crushed by a single hand, bone-splitting cracks mixing with a scream of unbelievable pain. Robert fell to the ground and clutched his arm, spit spitting from his mouth from the pain alone. Though Brent was horrified by the sounds he heard, he used his Vacgun to vacuum the sorcerer's staff closer to himself, and, with great effort, he began to wield the heavy weapon in his own hands and pointed it at the sorcerer. However, it did nothing.

The sorcerer took note of this, a smile stretching across his face before another laugh fell out. "My my my, isn't this a refreshing scene?"

Brent looked at the staff he commandeered from the sorcerer. "... It worked just fine a second ago."

The sorcerer shook his head. "It won't work for you, boy. It is a psyker weapon. More specifically, a force staff attuned only to my mind. It's nothing more but a cudgel in your hands."

After a few seconds of quick thinking, he then brought his useless weapon near the equipment that was near the pinkish teleporter gate. "Then how would you feel if I bash this equipment?"

He unholstered an enormous gun from a hidden holster behind his back and pointed it at Brent. "Ah-ah. Don't do something you might regret. If you break that device, then I will ensure you will suffer horrors most inhuman. Even if you ARE a human from this universe. But I can see that you are quite brave, and hungry for knowledge. If you give me back my power staff, then I shall see to it that your friend here will be treated by an apothecary. Or failing that, replace his arm with a prosthetic one with the help of a tech-priest. And after that, I will tell you all you will need to know. Sound fair?"

Brent didn't know what the sorcerer meant, or what an apothecary or a tech-priest was supposed to be, but Brent could tell that this armored man was dangerous.

The sorcerer smiled as he then aimed his weapon at Robert. "Let me make this easier for you to choose."

"No." Brent didn't like where this was headed.

"Do you not want your friend here to suffer?" The sorcerer threatened. "Then give me back my staff, or I will shoot him."

Brent thought about giving the sorcerer his staff back, but this giant armored man didn't seem like the kind of person one would trust. "You're just going to shoot him anyway."

The sorcerer smiled like he was giving a pie to a neighbor. "It's a mercy kill. What did you expect? It's probably a kindness that is more than he will ever deserve. Now give me back my staff or I will make his scream memorable, and your two other friends will have their flesh peeled before your eyes. And as for you? Hoo hoo hoo! I think I will have something special prepared just for you."

Brent had never felt so terrified in his life.

"NnOWWWWW~! Do et nOW! Now noW NOW NOw nOW~!"

Suddenly, a downpour of color flooded the room. Slimes had rained upon the three dangerous men, as they fell from the roof of the building's upper balcony. They consisted of various slimes that Brent was sure were not native to the Glass Desert, but they were also an absolutely massive number of slimes that were incredibly hostile to the sorcerer and his followers. Perhaps THEY were the reason why the slimes became so aggressive on the Far, Far Range? Brent was unsure as to why the slimes hated them, but the slimes granted Brent some breathing room for once.

The sorcerer waved his arms at the beasts that assaulted him. "GRAH! THESE PESTS AGAIN!" He swatted many to the side, though his efforts didn't wound or damage them in any way. "RUBRIC! HERETEK! IGNORE THE HUMANS OF THIS UNIVERSE! THESE JELLY CREATURES HAVE RETURNED!"

Suddenly, the ten foot tall giant and the red-clothed cyborg diverted their attention to the slimes. [THEM AGAIN. THEY ARE STRANGE. THEY HAVE NO SKIN. NO BONES. NO ORGANS. NO BRAINS. THEY ARE JUST FLUID. SORCERER PELZACHOZ, THIS IS BECOMING ANNOYING.]

A quantum plort landed next to Brent as the three dangerous men struggled against the tide of slimes. He then heard a voice directed to him. "HoomAN! HALLOO HoOmin! SmASH tha PlORt on tHA THINg! GloWY THING! Makes spaRKS! Zap zAP! Hit thaT! WIth PLOrt!"

Brent tried to look for the source of the garbled voice, but he found nobody. All he had was the quantum plort as the only evidence of the mysterious benefactor's existence. He looked at the quantum plort on the ground. Brent didn't have time to think things through, so he decided, on the spot, to suck the plort up into his Vacpack and launch the plort at the Tesla towers.

"NO~!" The sorcerer shouted as he noticed too late what Brent had done. An aura of crackling yellow colored the Tesla towers and energy generator, which seemed to make the central teleporter gate warble and wobble dangerously. "Heretek, the warp battery has been damaged! Can we repair it!?" Shouted the sorcerer.

The cyborg shoved aside a tide of slimes as he gave the machine a quick glance. [IT IS TOO DAMAGED. NEW ENERGY SUPPLIED TO IT. IT IS MAKING GATE UNSTABLE. UNIVERSE BRIDGE COLLAPSE IS IMMINENT!]

The sorcerer turned to Brent, his eyes filled with murder. **_"... Y o u..."_** The sorcerer then uttered strange words as he shot his large gun at Brent, despite his shots going wide as largos jumped onto him. However, his large gun blasted through his left shoulder, his left knee, and his right foot.

"BRENT!" Robert shouted. He got up from the ground and went to Brent, picking him up and carrying him on his back, despite his own heavily wounded arm.

Wind began rushing violently through the ancient Glass Desert Warp Station, as both sand and slimes were pulled into the gate in the middle of the stone pagoda, never to be seen again. Brent wasn't sure if he was losing consciousness from the pain or from blood loss, but he was sure that whatever those three men were trying to plan, he managed to thwart them and their objective.

Robert carried Brent out of the ancient building as a horrible sound of tearing wind made the temple shudder. Unsurprisingly, they found Tiffany and Samantha outside of the temple, past the circular doors. They must have escaped the clutches of the cyborg and the clawed giant the moment they became assailed by the slimes.

Tiffany looked back at the temple, fear in her eyes. "WHO THE HELL WERE THEY?!"

Samantha gritted her teeth. "I DON'T KNOW, BUT THEY SURE AREN'T LOCALS TO THE FAR, FAR RANGE!"

"LADIES, BRENT IS HURT!" Robert said, struggling with the investigator on his back.

Tiffany gasped. "ROBERT! YOUR ARM!"

Robert gritted his teeth. "BRENT IS WORSE THAN ME RIGHT NOW! KEEP HIS LEGS AND ARM RAISED OR HE'LL BLEED TO DEATH!"

Samantha shouted over the roaring wind. "WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE! I THINK THAT WARP STATION IS COLLAPSING ON ITSELF!"

Tiffany, Samantha and Robert carefully carried Brent to one of the open doors that lead outside of the Warp Station. However, the wind made it impossible to proceed further. Robert clenched his teeth hard. "HOLD ON, EVERYONE!"

"HARD TO HOLD ON TO ANYTHING WHEN I'M TRYING TO PULL ALONG OUR WOUNDED BODYGUARD HERE!" Samantha shouted above the wind.

"I THINK WE'RE BEING PULLED IN BY THAT ANCIENT TELEPORTER GATE!" Tiffany announced.

"OH REALLY?! I HAVEN'T NOTICED-WAUGH!" Samantha yelled as she and Brent's group was pulled off of the ground. Not only were they pulled by the wind, but also by a gravity vortex that shifted them into the air, which then forced them to careen and fall into the ancient teleporter gate.

"HOLD ON, HOLD ON, HOLD ON!" Robert shouted just before they disappeared.

The vortex lasted for a minute before it dissipated. All traces of the sorcerer, the cyborg, the clawed giant, the slimes that attacked them, and Brent's team had all vanished into a vacuous tempest. All that was left was the intact temple, with the exception to all loose sand that was once in piles or stuck in various crevices, as well as a crater of sand that ate the Sand Sea, which was quickly filled by more golden sand.

The only sign of life that still remained within the second Glass Desert Warp Station was a young woman with pecan colored skin and blue hair, which sat trapped in the middle of the stone pagoda. However, she was as still as a statue, and an aura of pink surrounded her.

It was Beatrix LeBeau, somehow at the center of the chaotic pink warp gate, and anchored to the spot.

And stranger still, two slimes decided to visit this slime rancher an hour after the incident. One wore a fedora, while another twinkled with unusual power.

* * *

"Guh..." Robert felt like his everything ached. He couldn't tell where his broken arm was, but he would softly murmur a prayer and thank whatever god saved his life. "My head feels like a rock, but at least everything stopped whooshing. I guess we're okay now. Can I get a headcount?"

"Ohh... Oh damn, I feel like I went and drank an entire keg of beer since last night. I want to sleep somewhere warm. Nya..." Samantha whined.

"Turn off the lights. It's too bright." Groaned Tiffany.

"Tiff and Sam are with us. Good." Robert grunted. "Brent. Are you with us?"

Silence answered Robert.

"Damn." Robert tried to get himself off of the ground, only to find that his arms were completely numb. "I guess Brent died on us."

"OH GOSH THAT IS THE BIGGEST TABBY SLIME I HAVE EVER SEEN!" Tiffany yelled.

Samantha looked around frantically. "WHAT?! WHERE?!"

"IT TALKED! OH GOSH IT TALKED!" Tiffany shrilled in surprise.

Robert groaned tiredly. "Ladies, please. One at a time. We got to find out where we are, and find a way to get back in contact with the Far, Far Range's 7Zee Corporate Branch."

"WAIT, THAT ROCK SLIME TALKED TOO! ... Wait... Robert?" Tiffany asked incredulously.

"What?" Robert asked as he looked around. He found no sign of Tiffany, Samantha, or Brent anywhere near him. He did note that he was in a strange cave that contained a phosphor slime, a tabby slime, and a what seemed to be a deflated pink slime.

The tabby slime blinked a few times. "... We... Turned... Into... Slimes."

Robert stared horridly at the tabby slime that sounded like a high-pitched Samantha. "... What the hell?"

Everyone was horribly surprised by what had happened to them. However, they were at a loss of words to describe **how **this had happened to them. Nor do they know why it happened. Everyone was at a loss of words.

Tiffany's eyes became as wide as dinner plates. Or at least the slime equivalent. "... Did... Did we become isekaied?"

Robert wiggled his body, trying to find out where his arms went. "Uh... English, Tiff."

Tiffany looked up at her antennas as she felt her wings beginning to lift herself off of the ground. "It's when someone either dies and becomes reborn, or gets transported to another dimension, like someone being reincarnated as a hero in a fantasy realm."

Samantha sighed, looking behind herself to see that she has a new tail. "I think that's more of a manga or anime thing. Or something. Ugh... I don't like this tail."

Tiffany puffed her cheeks at Samantha. "Isekais can also be light novels and video games too."

Robert huffed in annoyance. "... Well, at least we are safe. I don't see those armored soldiers and that weird guy with the robot arms with us, which I think is good for for the moment."

Tiffany looked at a pink blob that was on the ground. "... Is that who I think it is?"

Samantha and Robert looked at the still pink slime, laying motionless with its mouth open. Robert moved to the pink slime and bumped his body into him. There was no response. "... I don't know if this is Brent." Robert said in his analysis.

Tiffany looked at Robert with worry. "Can you check his pulse and see if he's still with us?"

Robert looked at Tiffany with a stern glare. "... You're supposed to be the slime expert here. Can't YOU tell us if this slime is alive, or is the Brent we know?"

Tiffany shook her head, and looked like she was about to cry. "I don't know. I never saw a dead slime before. I was never trained to tell the difference between a slime that is dead or alive."

Robert sighed before looking down at the flat pink slime. He then began to shout at it. "HEY BRENT! NAKED LADIES!"

The pink slime was motionless and silent.

Samantha stared at Robert with an unamused glare. "Naked ladies? Really?"

Robert shrugged, or approximated a shrug with the slime equivalent. "My dad always wakes me up by shouting naked ladies in my ear."

Tiffany blushed. "Technically, we ARE naked, but... I don't think it'll be the same with Brent."

Samantha stared at Tiffany, agitation settling on her facial expression. "MOVING ON FROM THAT TOPIC." Samantha then began to look around herself. "... We need to find out where we are. I don't think I have ever seen this cave before."

Tiffany looked at Brent sadly. "But what about Brent? We don't know if he's dead! What if we leave him here and some mangy animal came by and ate him?!"

Robert was silent for a few seconds before he gave his answer. "... Tiffany, we don't know if this one really is Brent at all. But as for the animals that might come in here looking for some food... I'll bury him."

Tiffany looked at Robert sadly. "But we still don't know if he's dead or not!"

Robert shook his head. "Okay, well, then I'll just bury him a little bit! Just enough so that he can still breathe."

Samantha sighed. "Listen. If we start panicking, then we won't get any closer to getting out of this problem. We're now slimes, yes, but we don't know where we are. It'll be better if we find civilization, report to 7Zee about those people we saw, and then find a way to get ourselves turned back into humans. You do your thing, Rob. I see some daylight purring in from the cave. I'll check that out. Tiff? You're a light source. Maybe you can investigate this cave a little bit? See if it's safe?"

Robert looked at Samantha questionably. "... Purring?"

Samantha froze. "... Oh gawd, did I just make a cat pun?"

"Yes." Robert answered.

Samantha mewled angrily as she wiggled away, flustered over her new body and changes to her instincts and personality.

Tiffany looked at the blob of pink slime that lied before Robert. "... Robby?"

Robert looked at Tiffany. "Yeah?"

"How are you going to bury this pink slime? We don't even know if it's Brent." Tiffany asked.

Robert was silent for a moment as he looked upon the still and flattened form of the pink slime. "... Just go and inspect the caverns, Tiff. I'll think of something."

A long pause elapsed before Tiffany decided to scout the dark caves. A longer pause went by once Tiffany left Robert to the flaccid and unmoving pink slime.

* * *

**The Present**

* * *

Brent became blanched as he listened to the story told to him. He began to glare intensely at Robert when he was told that Robert had been the one responsible for burying Brent.

It was around this point that Samantha reached the end of her part of the story. "That was when I found that red shack place. We didn't know who was living there at the time, but we assumed it belonged to some kind of hermit that tried to build his home using junk he found around the beach. It was only a few hours later that the people who lived there came back from a hunting trip. And to tell you the truth, Brent, they were not friendly. In fact, they were not human! I got the impression that they were dangerous monsters that would have killed us if given the chance. I told Robert and Tiffany about them, and we then discussed for a long while what we should do. All of us voted to leave the cave, but they were blocking our only way out. That was when Tiffany suggested we go through the caves to find another way out."

"You buried me." Brent said to Robert, incredulously.

Tiffany sighed. "I think we've been traveling through these caves for... maybe two days now? It was probably the most scariest moment of my life. Apart from hearing Sam's description of what the orks looked like. But at least Sam brought back a lot of food for us to eat before we set off into the caves."

"You buried me." Brent repeated.

"So Brent. Do you have any questions for us?" Robert asked.

"You BURIED me." Brent repeated.

Robert sighed. "Yes, Brent. I buried you. Many of us thought that you died at the time, what with the injuries you sustained. I assumed you probably didn't want your body to be eaten by an animal, so I covered you with dirt. Although I am quite surprised that you managed to find us in the caves, I'm also impressed that you haven't died at all. So, what, were you just sleeping or something? I never saw a slime sleep before, so... we assumed you were dead."

Brent made an exasperated sighed. "Just shut up about me dying already! HOW did you bury me without hands or a shovel?"

"Easy." Robert replied. "With great difficulty."

Brent paused for some brief seconds before narrowing his gaze at Robert. "Aren't you going to add an explanation to that answer?"

Robert shook his head. "No. You wouldn't like the answer."

Tiffany rolled her eyes. "Don't bother getting an answer out of him, Brent. I've tried asking him several times in the cave already, but he just kept silent the whole time."

"I imagined he used his mouth to bury you. Probably the only part of a slime's body that is capable of picking things up and moving them elsewhere. I bet a bit of his saliva mixed into the dirt." Samantha mused.

Robert gave a stern stare at Samantha. That was probably the only answer Brent was going to get out from Robert. However, that did leave Brent with another question he wanted to ask, but also dreaded to utter. He hesitated on asking this question for the panic that might follow. However, it was an important question that needed to be asked. "So what do we do now?"

Tiffany groaned. "I don't know about you guys, but I am really starving. I'm in the mood for some fruit right now."

Samantha sighed. "I'll go get something for you. Stay in here and don't leave the cave."

Tiffany groaned again and pouted. "As much as I love to fly around, I hate that I can't go outside in the daytime."

"Come on, Brent. Let's search for some food and bring something back for Tiff." Robert said, sliding up to the exit of the cave.

Brent sighed as he followed Robert and Samantha. He too was feeling the pang of hunger.

* * *

**A/N: And that shall be it for the preludes.**


	9. Foraging and Hunting Slimes

**Foraging and Hunting Slimes**

* * *

Past the cave's exit, Brent could see an enormous expanse of forest, which consisted of thorny trees and bushes. It seemed like some kind of shrubland. There was nothing here that he recognized from the Far, Far Range. It was truly and alien landscape, a far cry from the terrain that Brent once quickly became accustomed to. The trees had a deep orange-dark bark with bright and broad green leaves, while bushes with red thorns sat at the base of some of these trees or were secluded and on their own. Insects the size of a human palm and stingers as thick as a pinky lazily flew between the trees, seeking blooming flowers. Some kind of black furred vermin skittered through the grass, looking like if a mole had its mouth replaced with a parrot beak.

Brent had learned how to live on the fat of the land on the Far, Far Range. But now, here, he would have to survive on this new land without any knowledge of how to thrive on its fat. He didn't even know which things were safe to eat, or which of the animals are harmless. There were several types of fungi, fruiting plants, and even animals on Earth that were highly toxic to humans, and yet the humans that tried eating them or using them for medicine often died from their experimentation. At least some humans in those days had somehow found a way to pass on their wisdom. The future generations of humans who would learn from their ancestors' past mistakes enabled humanity to evolve into what they were.

And now, Brent and his rediscovered investigation team has to survive on an alien world as slimes.

Brent and Robert followed after an annoyed Samantha. She seemed pretty grumpy. Maybe it was because she had gone several hours without eating something? Or perhaps being a slime that eats only meat was what bothered her? Brent wouldn't really know.

Despite their situation, Brent decided to make the most of it. "So uh... How have you guys been surviving? Found any food that's safe to eat?"

Robert nodded. "Oh, we have been finding some stuff to eat here and there. Sadly, what's really changed for us is our diet. Ever since I got turned into a rock slime, I often get strong inhibitions whenever I try to eat anything other than vegetables. Now however, I eat vegetables, and only vegetables. I've been chewing on grass, plant roots, leaves, or anything that would be considered a veggie." He sighed.

Samantha hissed. "At least your food doesn't scurry away when they're downwind of you and catch your scent. I'm going in this direction. Brent, Rob, you find some food for yourselves. I'll look for something for Tiff." She said as she leapt past some bushes.

Robert and Brent paused for a few seconds before they both sighed. Robert then looked at Brent. "You know, you are probably the luckiest out of everyone here. You can eat veggies, fruit, AND meat."

Brent looked down impassively. "Being turned into a pink slime is not exactly something I would call 'lucky'. An expanded diet might seem nice, but I'd rather be a human than a dumb slime."

Robert analyzed Brent for a few seconds before he began to head for a tree with a thorny bush surrounding its trunk. "You and me both, Brent." He then began to make himself spin vertically.

Brent was surprised to see Robert rolling into a ball only to end up bashing into the thorn bush. The thorn bush thickets were cut and scattered everywhere. "... Huh. You just... Did the rock slime thing. Rolling in place before launching themselves, I mean."

Robert nodded at Brent as he hurtled himself again, rolling into the bush and busting apart more brambles. "Yeah, I do this sometimes. Been training myself to hold in the urge to roll and hurtle into things. Just like the rock spikes on the rock slimes, my rocky crown is pretty dang sharp. Out of all of us, I'm the only one here capable of hurting and attacking any dangerous predators."

"And have you met many dangerous predators?" Brent asked, passing through the path that Robert was making.

"Aside from those birds with the sharp chrome beaks and those orks, there has been a few noteable animals. Especially those weird creatures that come from the fungus fields behind the ork's fishing shack. Apparently, a lot of the animals that spawn there are all collectively called 'squigs' by the orks." Robert answered.

Brent's expression became puzzled. " 'Squigs'? What are squigs? Do they resemble an animal that's like a pig?"

"No. Well... In a way, they do, but no." Robert said, stopping his bush clearing to talk to Brent directly. "If you imagined a pig that had only two legs, it's mouth half the size of its body, and looks like it can eat baby kittens, the neighbor's dog, and any untended children, then you get a squig. And believe me, I had the misfortune to fight and kill one of them before."

Brent blinked in surprise. "Really? I didn't see any dead squigs when I woke up."

"I think it was probably because Samantha ate its corpse after I killed it." Robert added.

Brent paused, but nodded. "Ah. What about Tiffany and Samantha? How have they been faring?"

Robert sighed. "Tiffany has a harder time surviving than any of us, due to her... phosphoric condition. At least there are fruit in the trees she could eat, but she can only eat during the night. At least we bring back fruit wherever we find them. And as for Samantha, well... She would argue that she is still the Samantha we know, but I'd say she becomes less pensive when something distracts her, like a rat or some shiny object."

"And you?" Brent asked.

"All I've been eating is grass and roots. It's all I can do to stop myself from getting hungry. There is grass and roots in abundance everywhere, but I sometimes get the urge to just... roll myself into a ball and start rolling into or over things! It feels like trying to scratch an itch that is just under your skin. Ironic, seeing that I no longer have human skin. It's been replaced by slime." Robert answered before continuing rolling into more thorny bush brambles. After a few seconds, he stopped rolling. "Alright. Pull the roots out of the ground with your mouth and eat them. The rest of the plant tastes too bitter, but at least the roots are agreeable to me."

Brent went up to one of the bases of the bush roots. He gingerly bit the trunk and began pulling it out of the ground. Clumps of dirt were clawed out from the ground by stringy roots, but the roots and dirt clods were eaten. Brent grimaced as he chewed, spitting out mud and swallowing the bush's roots. "... Bleugh... I'd prefer carrots to this."

"It's either this or traveling with Samantha to hunt some meat. If you look hard, there might be some trees fruiting nearby. However, avoid eating the purple apples. I saw the sharp-beaked birds using them to lure animals." Robert said.

Brent blinked at Robert. "Uh... Why? Are they poisonous? I ask because I already ate a couple, but I didn't realize they were poisonous at the time."

Robert snapped to Brent and stared at him for a few seconds. "... Huh. I guess those purple apples don't work on pink slimes." He sighed before beginning to eat another root system of another bush. After chewing and swallowing his roots, Robert spoke again. "Let me explain. We thought the purple apples WERE poisonous. One of those squig things ate a few, unaware that a sharp-beaked bird was cutting them down for it to eat. It got lethargic after about ten minutes before it passed out. Then the bird that fed it those purple apples came down and sawed off its leg. Once it took the squig's leg, more of those sharp-beaked birds came by. The squig's corpse was gone in three hours. Around that time though, Samantha managed to nab and eat a couple of those birds as they were feeding."

"Oh yeah, I just remembered. I also ate one of those sharp-beaked birds too. I think it was trying to poison me in the same way you described." Brent said before going to another root node and pulling it out of the ground.

"Heh. Did you like eating them?" Robert asked.

"One of them pecked me before I ate it." Brent answered. "So asides from your food search, what else have you learned from the land we're now surviving in?"

Robert paused for a second, looking up in thought. "Let's see... Squigs are evil and meaty, the sharp-beaked birds are assholes, purple apples are poisonous to squigs, I've been eating the roots of these thorny bushes, Sam's been hunting parrot-beaked rats, orks are very dangerous looking, uh... I guess that's everything I can think of. Oh! There is one other thing. We've been hiding our plorts."

"You've been hiding your plorts?" Brent noticed just then that he and Robert had been producing plorts the entire time.

Robert sighed and nodded. "Yup. Tiffany gotten herself pretty crazed when she realized we could make plorts. She kept going on about how slimes only produced plorts on the Far, Far Range, even when we are so obviously not there to begin with." Robert rolled his eyes. "I would shrug, but I don't have the shoulders to express my indifference."

"Indifference." Brent repeated, looking at his own pile of plorts. "You make it sound as though you are not at all worried about your condition."

Robert scoffed before turning to Brent. "Hey, I'm still mad about turning into a slime, alright? It's just that bitching about it isn't going to make me human again. That's energy that could be put to use trying to figure out a way to return us to the Far, Far Range, and turning us back into humans again."

Brent nodded and sighed. "... You're probably right."

"Damn straight." Robert added.

"We just need to focus on our own survival and avoid those orks for the moment. Once we have some idea where we are, we can then try to find a way back to the ranch house." Brent said with finality.

Robert paused. "... Which reminds me about something. Did those ork guys see you?"

Brent looked up at Robert. A long paused passed before Brent's face scrunched up into a shut-eyed scowl.

Robert scrutinized Brent's expression. "... So you were spotted. How did you get away?"

"One of them tried to impale me with his spear, but he tripped into the underground lake. I made my escape into the caverns shortly afterwards." Brent explained.

"Did he follow you?" Robert asked.

"I don't think so, sine I didn't make any tracks when I escaped. It pains me to say this, but even though I'm a pink slime now, I can no longer make footprints." Brent replied.

Robert was quiet for several seconds before sighing. "Then let's hope those ork guys gets lost in those caves. We'll need to tell this to Samantha and Tiffany too. If those ork guys tried to stab you, then this means they're not friendly."

Brent rolled his eyes. "I sure won't invite them over for a beer, that's for sure!"

"Anyway," Robert interrupted. "Let's find some fruit for Tiffany." He said, already going towards a tree to see if it had bared fruit.

"Yeah." Brent agreed, following Robert.

* * *

A few hours had finally passed, which enabled the nameless planet Brent was on to slowly rotate on its axis. Stars most unfamiliar began to show themselves when night had finally arrived, which only told them that they were no longer on the Far, Far Range. A faraway pink nebula hung high in the sky, barely seen past the darkness of space. It was a celestial body Brent didn't recognize as something that would orbit the Far, Far Range. Nevertheless, this planet had two moons, which was much different from the Far, Far Range's famous smiling Slime Moon. This planet's moons were different. One was farther away and was white and gray. The other orbited slower, and was a dark green color.

"... Yup. I've made my assessment. None of the constellations I'm seeing are from Earth or the Far, Far Range. I don't know where the hell we are." Brent said, gazing skyward. Brent and his company of humans-turned-slimes were resting themselves after a successful foraging/hunting expedition. They were gathered in a makeshift clump of brambles that Brent and Robert gathered to form a safe area for everyone to comfortably rest in. If they had fire-starting tools, they could have created a campfire. And if they had hands in which to use said tools, then Brent and his company would be much better off.

Robert sighed, looking up at the stars with Brent. "I'd say the same thing."

"Perhaps not as eloquently." Samantha added.

"What? I can't be allowed to share someone's opinion?" Robert chuckled.

"Well, opinions are like assholes." Samantha said nonchalantly. "Everybody has one."

"I'd concede to that, except that we're slimes now. We technically lack assholes." Said Robert.

"And how do you know that?" Samantha asked.

"Tiffany told me." Robert answered.

"Of course." Samantha sighed.

"WHEE~!" Tiffany shouted, dancing in the night air with her fluttery wings. "FREE~!" Her face was tightened into a carefree smile that expressed joy and happiness. "I'M FREE~!" She performed loop-de-loops, barrel rolls, aileron rolls, banks, and various other aerial maneuvers. "FREEDOM NEVER TASTED SO GOOD!" Tiffany had been like this ever since the sun dipped below the horizon. "OOH, THE FRESH OPEN AIR TASTES SO GOOD!" She had been enjoying her freedom as she swooped through the air, able to freely eat any of the fruit she could find in the trees. "THIS IS BETTER THAN BEING STUCK IN THE CAVES!" She flitted past Brent, Robert and Samantha a few more times before coming to rest next to them. "LIKE, INFINITY PERCENT BETTER!"

Samantha looked at Tiffany with a puzzled expression. "Infinity percent? What was your percentage before you left the cave?"

Tiffany stuck her tongue out at Samantha. "You can't determine happiness by a calculable percentage, Sammy! I'm just too happy to care about math stuff right now, so you can shove it!"

Samantha smiled. "Uh huh. "

Brent sighed. "I guess she really liked the purple apples."

Robert nodded. "Yup."

For a short while, the four humans that have been turned into slimes remained silent as they gazed out onto the open stars. Brent's expression slowly changed from contentment to consternation. "... So anyway. Robert and I were talking about some stuff earlier. Stuff concerning about those ork guys."

Samantha looked at Brent. "What about them? We already know that they are dangerous. So long as we stay away from them, they shouldn't bother us."

"About that." Brent said. "One of them saw me."

Samantha's eyes widened as she stared at Brent. "... Are you sure?"

"He tried to impale me with a spear. I'd say I'm pretty sure." Brent replied.

Samantha looked at the ground. "My goodness... How did you get away?"

"He tripped and dunked himself into the underground lake, while I made my escape through the caves. I'm pretty certain he can't track slimes, since we no longer make footprints." Brent replied.

Samantha bit her slimy, feline lips in concern. "This is bad for us. If those orks became aware of our presence, then who knows the kind of lengths they would go to capture, kill, or eat us."

"You know," Tiffany interjected. "the first human settlers to inhabit the Far, Far Range tried to eat the slimes."

Samantha turned to Tiffany. "How did that work out?"

"About as well as one might expect. They couldn't eat them since they were organisms completely composed of liquid. Their attempts to boil them ended up with the slimes disappearing into a puff of steam. I think someone at some point had the dumb idea to try drinking them raw, but... Let's just say they learned to NOT do that ever again." Tiffany said, shivering in disgust. "Since the slimes are basically an oversized bacterial cell, humans had no idea how to manage them when they arrived on the Far, Far Range. However, ever since they discovered the slimes can produce plorts, and discovered that the plorts themselves had unique properties, humanity quickly adapted. Ever since then, humanity developed several methods to harvest plorts, and incorporated them as new resources humanity needed."

Samantha sighed. "And so, the 7Zee Corporation evolved from a space travel agency, to a multi-billion dollar business that delivers plorts to Earth."

Tiffany nodded. "Yup. That is how it went."

Robert groaned. "Well, as nice as it is to have a history lesson with you ladies, we kinda glossed over something important. What the hell do we do if the orks come for us? You do realize we are not exactly safe here?"

Samantha shook her head. "We can't fight them directly, that's for sure."

"Maybe not as we are now." Tiffany said, blinking as a thought just occurred to her.

Brent looked at Tiffany. "What do you mean?"

Tiffany looked at Brent. "We are pure slimes, Brent. And the only slime among us capable of causing harm is Robert, who is a rock slime. If we can eat his plorts, then maybe we can-"

"Whoa, hey, no, no, no." Robert interrupted, shaking his head at Tiffany. "I ain't eating someone else's plorts, and I'm not letting any of you eat my plorts, thank you."

Samantha grimaced as she stuck out her tongue. "Yeah, Tiffany? No. Just no."

Tiffany puffed up her cheeks at Robert and Samantha. "But think about it! As largos, we can throw our weight around and have mouths big enough to cause some damage to them! We don't have to rely on Robert to protect us!"

Robert groaned. "Look here, Tiff. First off, I wasn't paid to eat a slime plort. Alright? And secondly, I'm worried about turning into a tarr slime. If I somehow die as a slime, then that would mean I won't have to worry about my retirement. But if I turned into a tarr, then I might start attacking and eating you guys. I mean, sure, we're humans that have been turned into slimes, yet still retained our human memories, emotions, and knowledge and stuff, but what happens if we turn into Tarr and we somehow lose our minds? What if it's like getting drugged and we were influenced by our new Tarr instincts to cannibalize each other?"

"But we are small and cute looking, Rob! Who would take us seriously if we don't become big and strong largos?!" Tiffany shouted at Robert.

Robert huffed. "I'm not cute. I'm not eating anyone's plorts. End of story."

Brent was about to say something, but Tiffany stormed away from the group before he got to say anything. He sighed and went back to watching the stars. After some seconds had passed, Brent sighed. "... Maybe Tiffany has a point."

Samantha groaned at Brent. "Not you too..."

"Look, even I hate to admit it, but we're small and practically defenseless." Brent explained. "And if we ever met those orks again, would you rather have a weapon at your side, or be caught with your pants down? Think about it."

Samantha paused. "... Oh... Dammit. You have a point."

"Well he might have a point," Robert stated, shaking his head adamantly. "But I am still not going to eat a plort, no sir. If I had arms, I'd cross them right in front of me, and that would be that."

Samantha turned to look at Brent. "... So out of all of us, which of our plorts would you... You know... imbue yourself with?"

"Hmm... Let me think." That was a good question. Brent paused for a long time to contemplate on his answer. If he ate a plort from Tiffany, he would be able to fly like any of the phosphor slimes on the Far, Far Range. On the other hand, he would share her weakness to the sun, and would be unable to survive in the daylight. Eating Samantha's plort would enable Brent the ability to jump like a tabby slime. He heard that tabby slimes had a habit of stealing things, so he was not entirely sure if becoming a pink tabby largo would be something that would benefit a private investigator. Becoming a pink rock largo provided Brent the means to be able to defend himself from most things that might try to harm him. But then again, he could inadvertently hurt his friends, or even his allies, or even break things he didn't intent to break, due to the rough and tumble behavior that rock slimes tend to exhibit.

After several seconds of meditative contemplation, Brent didn't come to a conclusion.

All things considered, it wasn't because he couldn't choose whether the rock slime were better than the tabby slime largos or vice versa.

But rather, it was because of the spear that had passed through his body and anchored him into the ground.

Robert and Samantha were startled by the sudden spear impaling Brent, making Samantha leap behind the gathered brambles, while Robert hunkered down and remained motionless.

A giant green monster, an ork, wearing animal skins and mossy camouflage, stepped out from the shadows and pulled the spear out of the ground, dragging Brent along with it. The monster smiled as he inspected the prey he caught. "Oi! Gorggat! Ere's da little kritta I was talkin' bout'! I found it! An' I skewered it too!"

Another ork came after the first one, pushing away a small tree that was in his way. "I see dat, Grashnik. Ya know wut I fink? I fink dis would have went fasta if we had a herd squig track'n it." As he came closer to Grashnik, he was able to see what had been hunted more clearly. He inspected the hunted slime for many seconds before he cocked his head. "Wot? Dis iz 'da fing 'dat gave yer 'da slip? It's so puny! Tiny even! An'... wobbly!" Gorggat said, watching Brent be bounced around as Grashnik wobbled his spear.

"I know! It's very wobbly! Like it was made uv mushroom pudd'n or someth'n like it!" Grashnik said, using a mighty green hand to remove Brent from the spear.

"I wonda if it'll taste gud 'n a soup? It don't look like it got many bones inside it." Gorggat said, poking at Brent with a finger. "An' its skin feels sort uv... watery."

"Let's take it back ta 'da fish'n shack an find out! We kan put it 'n 'da kook'n pot." Grashnik chuckled as he carried his prize in the palm of his hand.

"I wonda if we kan find more?" Groggat asked as he began following Grashnik.

All Brent could do was remain paralyzed in fear as he was carried away from his company of human-turned-slimes, terrified at the thought of never seeing his friends again. Robert looked back and shared the same expression as Brent.

Brent was carried to the cave mouth that lead through the underground passage. All that could be heard was the heavy stomping of ork feet before they faded into silence.

* * *

**A/N: OH FUCK, I AM A HORRIBLE PERSON FOR WRITING THIS! IT'S A BIG-ASS CLIFFHANGER!**


	10. And Then There Were More

**And Then There Were More**

* * *

The worst scenario to happen to Brent and his company had been theorized, yet to see it happen before their very eyes still surprised them nonetheless. The orks had came, stabbed Brent with a spear, and then took him away from his friends. It seemed as though they thought Brent was some kind of wild animal, and they decided to hunt him down. No one thought that the orks from the fishing shack would have tracked Brent and his company through the caves in such a short allotment of time, since they had hoped that they would get lost in the underground cavern.

But now, Robert and Samantha had never felt so alone.

Once the orks were away, Samantha peered out from the gathered brambles before leaping out of her hiding spot. She looked at the hole in the ground where the spear had stuck Brent. She then looked toward Robert, speechless.

Once Robert stopped hunkering himself into the ground, he looked up to see that Brent, and the spear that impaled him, were gone. "... Well this sucks."

Samantha looked at the cave where the orks had disappeared into and hissed. "So they DID follow Brent to us."

Robert shook his head. "So what if they did? We knew we weren't safe forever, and we knew it would only be a matter of time before they found us."

Samantha turned to Robert, panic in her eyes. "They were tracking Brent, Robert. Even if he didn't know if he was making tracks that led them here, they came pretty close to discovering the rest of us! And now he's dead! Didn't you hear them say what they are gonna do to him?! Hell, what are they going to do to us if they found us next!?"

"SAM!" Robert shouted, glaring at Samantha. When Samantha paused, Robert began to talk calmly. "Brent is still alive. When they carried him off, he looked back at me with great fear in his eyes, terrified of what has happened. But he hasn't died yet."

Samantha scrutinized Robert's expression. "... But... But the spear impaled him!"

Robert nodded, his expression serious. "Yes, but it didn't kill him. We'll have to follow after those orks and make a plan to get Brent back. I only got to know him for about four days, but he's in the same boat as us whether you like it or not, and I need to use everything at our disposal to get him back, and then get the rest of us back to the Far, Far Range."

Samantha's expression became puzzled and surprised. "Why are you so suddenly gung-ho about saving Brent from those orks?"

Robert sighed. "I was paid to protect you ladies and that detective. I'm just trying to do my job."

"Really?" Samantha sarcastically questioned.

Robert rolled his eyes. "I know I ain't some white knight, alright? Hell, I might expect a bonus to my paycheck after this. But what I mean is... Wouldn't you want us to come and get you out of trouble if you were the damsel in distress?"

Samantha hissed and turned away from Robert. "... Yes. ... But supposing Brent is still alive, how will we rescue him? If you haven't noticed, we don't have any weapons, let alone any weight to throw around."

"I don't know, but we're going to follow those orks and look for ways to get Brent back." Robert nodded before looking towards the cave where those two orks carried Brent into. "Before they REALLY kill him."

"Really kill who?"

Robert and Samantha looked up to see Tiffany coming into earshot of their conversation. Robert and Samantha's mouths hanged open when they saw her. Robert and Samantha began to look at each other, noticing that they mirrored each other's expression. Samantha's expression then changed into something else. Across her face, her expression turned into something akin to disgust. "As much as I hate to say this... but... Robert? About that discussion Tiffany brought up?"

Robert banged his face on the ground. "Dammit."

* * *

The heavy stomping of metal boots echoed violently through the cavernous, black walls. Breathy grunting exuded from the two orks as they marched through the ebony abyss of the caves underneath the mountain. Brent remained silent as he was carried by a large green hand that seemed capable of crushing a human skull, and talons at the end of each finger capable of piercing flesh and ripping throats from necks. However, Brent was more surprised that he somehow survived being impaled by a spear. It went right through his body without any resistance, yet he felt no pain as its point and sharp edge cleaved through him and stuck him to the ground. Brent wasn't sure how he was still alive at all. Perhaps becoming a slime imparted some resistance to physical damage?

However, he didn't have the time to contemplate his mortality. He was still in mortal peril.

Gorggat growled in contempt as he brightened his path with a flashlight-like device in his hands. "Grah. If I'd have known yer hunt'n trip would take dis long, I'd ave' brought sum grub wit' me."

"Ya bellyach'n already? Heh. Probably got yourself hungry from fight'n' too 'ard for 'da gitfinda back at 'da shack." Grashnik chuckled.

"Yer were punch'n pretty 'ard. Ain't ya hungry too?" Gorggat asked.

Grashnik shook his head. "Nah. I ain't too hungry. I ate before we left."

"How about ya give yer little kritta ta me? It looks jus big enough ta be a gud sized snack." Gorggat said, stopping and stretching a hand to Brent.

Brent was jolted around as Grashnik sent a fist toward Gorggat's face. A heavy growl replied after the assault. "Oi! I ain't about ta give ya ma kill! I found it, so I gets ta cut an' cook it!"

Gorggat rubbed his chin, growling back. However, he did seem somewhat lethargic to respond to Grashnik with fisticuffs. "Alright, how about dis den. We kan kut it 'n af, see? Give me wun af so I don't starve, an ya kan keep 'da otha af for whateva kook'n yer want ta do wit' it. Sound fair?"

Grashnik paused for several seconds before he came up with an answer. He then began to growl in annoyance as he nodded his head. "Ya always gets so annoy'n when ya bellyache dis much. Fine. Yer kan have af." Grashnik then brought out a knife with his other hand and proceeded to press Brent to the floor.

It was then that Brent panicked. "WAIT WAIT WAIT PLEASE STOP NO DON'T CUT ME!" He shouted, wiggling madly.

Both orks were startled by the suddenly talking pink slime they have in their possession. After several seconds of silence, Gorggat spoke first. "Wot?! Did dis bug-eyed wobbly kritta jus talked?! Why didn't ya tell me it talked?! An' why is it still alive?!"

Grashnik picked up Brent to inspect him more closely. "I didn't know it kould talk, an' I didn't know it was still alive! Oi! Bug-eyed wobbly! Kan ya understand us?"

Brent paused for a couple seconds before answering. "... Uh... Yes... Apparently..." Brent suddenly realized that he told the orks that he was, unfortunately, able to talk.

Grashnik nodded his head before pointing a talon-tipped finger at Brent. "Okay, so yer kan talk. I got some questions for ya, see? If ya answa im wrong, den yer'll make us angry. Ya wouldn't like us when ya make us angry. Ya understand?"

Brent slowly nodded. "Uh... Sure! Yeah! Just... Put the knife away please?"

Grashnik shook his head. "Nah. Iz keep'n it out 'n kase ya make me angry." Grashnik pointed his knife at Brent. "Now ere's some questions for ya. Wot's yer name? Wot's 'da name uv yer species? An' are 'der more uv ya?"

Brent thought quickly about his three answers. He knew that if he said anything wrong, he might anger his captors. "Uh... Okay! Alright! Fine by me! My name is Brent, and I'm a h-... a pink slime. And... as far as I know, I'm the only pink slime that can talk."

"Iz 'dat so? Den tell me dis." Grashnik then sheathed his knife and reached behind himself to pull out a pink tetragonal trapezohedron. "Are dese fings eggs, or are dey drops?"

Brent realized what Grashnik was holding. "Those are... How did you get a hold of my plorts?!"

Gorggat tilted his head. "... Wot 'da zog iz a plort?"

"I dunno, but 'e said dis fing iz a plort, so it's a plort!" Grashnik replied, pocketing the plort back in his pocket. "Hmm. I don't know wot ta do wit' dese plort fings otha dan putt'n it 'n food, but I reckon some oddboyz might know wot else dey're gud for."

"Oddboyz?" Gorggat rolled his head and groaned in annoyance. "I hate dose guys. Always talk'n nonsense, always huddl'n close ta flash gitz nobs 'dat fink dey are betta dan me. I might not be as big as a nob, but I have dreams! Big dreams uv becom'n a flash gitz someday! Jus gotta find me a flesh-eat'n squig an' I'll be set."

Grashnik nodded sagely at Gorggat. "Yeah. If we get a fleash-eat'n squig or two, we'd be able ta live komfy lives 'n Fort Gash." Grashnik then held Brent up to inspect him. "No more fish an snots muck'n about around us anymore!"

"Uh... Fort Gash? Wait. Are you saying there are... more of you?" Brent asked.

Grashnik smiled a toothy smile at Brent. "'Dat's right, brent! 'Der's loads uv us orks at da fort! Loads an loads! But we're not gonna take ya 'der. Ya kan make dese plort fings, right? Well see, otha orks might get jealous if dey know yer kan make dose tasty sweet pink plort fings. Dey might get 'da bright idea ta steal yer away from us, an we won't get more uv yer plorts if 'dat happens, see?"

Brent paled. "... So you're going to keep me like some pet? Like some prisoner?!"

"Well, more or less." Grashnik said, continuing his forward march and walking through the underground caverns. "If ya's gud at behav'n like a gud pet, slave, servant or whatever, den we might decide ta keep ya. But see, an' ork boy ain't very orky if 'e don't fink smart from time ta time. An' I fink yer know more about dis planet dan us orks do. So, we iz gunna keep ya. But not jus keep ya, but also ask ya questions about 'da planet we're all on. If we know more about dis planet, den all uv us orks will be betta prepared ta survive on it! see wot I mean?"

"I see. So you want me to be your guide. But from the way you worded it... you make it sound like you're not from this planet at all." Brent said aloud, more to himself than to Grashnik or Gorggat.

Gorggat chuckled. "Dis git doesn't know about us orks comin' from space? Well ain't 'dat a laugh."

"There is MORE of you up there?! Oh..." Brent felt a pang of worry. He hoped that Tiffany, Samantha and Robert were safe.

Gorggat paused for a few seconds before turning to face Brent while they traveled through the underground cave system. "Ya know wot? Yer voice sounds kind uv familiar..."

Brent didn't like where this conversation was going. "Uh... Why is that?"

"I dunno. I jus thought I heard yer voice from somewhere before... Bah, probably rememberin' fings wrong." Gorggat said, shrugging his enormous shoulders and continuing his march.

Brent felt a deep pang of doom befalling onto his soul. By some miracle, he was able to survive being struck by a spear that, by all accounts, should have killed him. However, he supposed that his new slime body had enabled him to survive the attack that would have became a mortal injury on any regular human. Despite surviving the impalement from the spear, Brent was in trouble still. Apparently, the orks were now less interested about eating Brent. They were now more interested in interrogating him. And since these orks were apparently newcomers to this planet, they would undoubtedly want to know everything about it, and they figured that Brent was a native local that knew much of the landscape. Brent was unsure how these orks would take it if they realized that he too wasn't from this world. As much as Brent hated to admit it, but he felt like he needed to play along. So long as these orks believed that he was a 'native' slime, they would stave themselves from eating him. At least, not anytime soon.

As the two orks made their way through the underground caverns, Gorggat stopped to lean down and pick something shiny off of the ground. He was puzzled by what he saw. "Oi. I fink I found annuver wun uv dose plort fings."

Brent instantly recognized it as a phosphor plort.

Grashnik raised an eyebrow at the new type of plort before looking at his hand, holding Brent. "Hmm. Dis wun iz a different kolor dan da pink ones. I'z dink'n brent ain't da only bug-eyed wobbly slime git dat's on dis planet."

Brent felt as though his life would come to a quick end soon. "Uh... Coincidence, maybe?"

"Let's make dis easy den. Tell us wot made dis plort fing ere, an I won't kut yer 'n af." Gorggat threatened, unholstering a huge and crude sword from his back.

"OKAY, OKAY!" Brent yelled as the tip of Gorggat's sword poked him. "That's... That's a phosphor plort! A phosphor slime can make them!"

"An' why iz a phosphor plort do'n down ere?" Gorggat asked 'politely', poking Brent again.

"Phosphor slimes don't like being in the sunlight! There must have been one staying here for a bit before it came back outside!" Brent replied. That might be technically true, considering that Tiffany was a phosphor slime. Strange. He remembered Robert telling him that he, Samantha, and Tiffany, hide their plorts. Yet the one Gorggat found was out in plain sight. Tiffany was probably reckless, and she simply forgot to hide one of the plorts she made.

Gorggat sheathed his enormous sword and pocketed the plort "So 'der are more uv ya slimes. Grashnik, let's take a look around our shack! If we sees some slimes, we round im up!" He grunted.

Grashnik smiled a toothy smile. "Well ain't dat nice! We'll be gett'n lots more slimes ta add to our kook'n pot!" He said, matching Gorggat's increased speed.

Brent sighed in relief. At least they were heading away from his friends. Through his sacrifice, Brent would keep Tiffany, Samantha, and Robert safe for a while longer.

However, he was stunned by what he saw after Gorggat and Grashnik exited from the underground caverns and found themselves back on the surface.

Slimes.

There were slimes everywhere.

Rock slimes headbutted into each other or jumped on beach rocks. Phosphor slimes floated through the air, ate fruits and chased each other lazily. Tabby slimes pounced on each other and whatever source of meat they could eat, while sometimes stealing something and hiding it elsewhere. And the pink slimes, surprisingly, and perhaps unsurprisingly to Brent, were twice the size of the tabby, rock, and phosphor slime populations combined.

Gorggat was surprised by what he found. "Whoa! 'Der's a load uv dose bug-eyed wobbly slimes ere!"

Grashnik stared at all the slimes with wide eyes. "'Der's way too many ta fit 'n 'da kook'n pot! Where did all dese gits kome from?!"

Brent was startled by the surplus number of slimes he was seeing. But he was also terrified. He wasn't worried about himself anymore. He was worried about them. "EVERYONE, RUN AWAY! YOU'RE NOT SAFE! IF THESE GUYS CATCH YOU, THEY'LL COOK YOU FOR THEIR SUPPER! GET AWAY FROM HERE!"

Brent expected the slimes to take the message. They would have fled the area in a screaming panic, and narrowly escape the clutches of the orks that held Brent hostage. Brent even had hoped that these slimes were once humans too, and could understand Brent's warning. But no. They all turned toward Brent's voice and stared at him and his captors dumbly. Seconds passed, and it was then Brent realized that these slimes were just normal slimes after all. Brent didn't know why there were so many slimes here, and yet they were here, unaware of the danger that were just a few steps away from them.

The slimes didn't understand Brent's warning. They simply looked at Brent in confusion, and looked in awe at the two orks that came out of the cave. Brent was steadily becoming more worried for the slimes that was before him, now no longer convinced they were once human.

Gorggat scanned the environment and the slimes before him. "... Hmm. I guess dese bug-eyed wobbly slimes didn't hear ya, or didn't understand ya."

Grashnik nodded. "Brent did say 'e was 'da only pink slime dat kould talk. Maybe dese wuns are too stupid ta talk?"

"If 'dat's true, den krump'n all dese slimes iz gunna be easia dan shoot'n fish 'n a barrul. Time fer sum krump'n!" Gorggat growled dangerously as he brought out his huge sword.

"I'z kag'n up brent. Don't krump too many uv im while I'z 'n 'da shack!" Grashnik yelled as he began running towards the red fishing shack.

Gorggat roared as he swung his enormous sword at a nearby group of slimes. His sword passed through many of them. Some were launched several feet into the air. Giant stomping boots impacted the ground with thunderous force anytime a slime neared his feet. The slimes were startled by the sudden violence that this ork exhibited, so they decided to try and slip away in every direction, even though some were unfortunately chased down and attacked by Gorggat.

Brent could only see this battle briefly as his view was obstructed by a closing metal door.

Brent's vision was filled by something different. He was inside of the fishing shack, and he took note of the fire pit that was maintained by small creatures that looked like pale green potatoes. The walls were adorned with various fishing equipment, but also of weapons of different shapes and sizes, ranging from axes, spears, and swords. Brent thought he also saw a few guns on the wall too. Unfortunately, the tour ended as Brent was delivered to a shoddy workbench and forced into a steel, makeshift cage. The inside of this cage was very bloody, looking like the animal once inside it had its intestines pulled out from between the bars.

Grashnik turned to the potato-looking beings and pointed at Brent. "Alright, snotlin's, listen up. If any uv ya snots get 'da idea ta eat dis fing, don't. 'Cos if ya do, den 'da next grot ta kome about our fish'n shack will kook ya an serve ya up ta Gorggat. Ya understand?"

The snotlings nodded in unison rapidly. Brent suddenly realized that they looked similarly to the bloody spud that Brent had eaten earlier. If he had a human stomach, he would have thrown up then and there.

"Right. I'z go'n out for a bit uv krump'n." Grashnik said as he unsheathed his spear and began to head out. An excited smile stretched across his face like some violence-hungry demon. "Ere we go, ere we go, ere we go! Time for a gud and proppa hunt! Time to fight! Time for WAAAGH!" Grashnik practically barged out of the shack in excitement, and began to target and hunt the slimes all around the fishing shack.

This had happened so fast for Brent. His mind was having a hard time processing it all. And now, he was trapped in a cage with nowhere to go. The 'snotlings', as Grashnik called them, stared at Brent curiously, and they all hungrily licked their lips. Had Grashnik not warned them not to eat Brent, then they would most certainly try to pull pieces of flesh off of him.

And now, the only things that Brent could see was the interior of an ork fishing shack, and the sneering faces of the tittering snotlings looking back at him as they tended to the fire. The sounds of two distant orks hunting slimes, and the crackling of the fire at the center of the room were the only things Brent could hear. The smell of old mushrooms, raw meat, and heavy metals clung to the air so headily that it nearly made Brent sick.

There is no way Brent was going to wait for those two orks to come back. Brent made up his mind and decided he needed to escape.

* * *

**A/N: How will Brent get himself out of this situation? :Uc**


	11. Stuck in an Ork Home

**Stuck in an Ork Home**

* * *

The sounds of manic, violence-driven laughter echoed a distance away. The walls, though shoddy in their engineering, muffled much of their cheers and war cries significantly. They sounded as though they reveled in their attempts to harm and slay the slimes that now populated the forested area, the beach, and all around their fishing shack. Brent guessed that the orks were past and beyond the front door entrance, fighting in the front yard that the front door led to. Their roars of battle and shouts of insane bloodlust, however, were truly cacophonous. Gorggat and Grashnik were so loud that Brent couldn't tell how close they were to their home, and their fight with the slimes went on for many hours. Worse still, their domicile had small inhabitants living inside of it. They were pale green and ugly, much like the green of the gretchin and the orks, but were quite small and had only a tatter of loincloth that covered their naked shame. These were apparently called 'snotlings'.

And though they were given **clear** instructions not to eat Brent, one of them had decided that poking Brent with a stick wouldn't incur the wrath of his masters, and that it was an excellent way to kill time when he had nothing else to do.

Poke.

Brent reviewed his cage and his surroundings.

Poke.

He was stuck inside of a steel cage that had thick bars surrounding him.

Poke.

Thankfully, the bars were not a problem for Brent, since he knows that slimes had no bones in their bodies.

Poke.

He could quite easily slip out of his cage with little to no trouble.

Poke.

The real problem would be dealing with the snotlings.

Poke.

"Stop it." Brent asked, annoyed by the snotling's antics. The snotling smiled back as he hid his pointed stick behind himself. Brent shook his head before he continued thinking about his escape plan. Dealing with the snotlings might pose more difficulty, since they are variables that posed the most danger to Brent.

Poke.

He could just eat all of them, but he really wasn't sure what would happen if he made himself sick from eating too many snotlings.

Poke.

Could slimes even get sick from overeating?

Poke.

Brent would have to ask Tiffany that question at some point.

Poke.

Of course, he could try fighting the snotlings, biting all of their heads off and make his escape that way.

Poke

But even then, they might get the idea to run to their masters and inform them that Brent was making an attempt to flee.

Poke.

Brent would certainly not want the ire of their masters directed at him if they discovered Brent attacking their servants!

Poke.

"PLEASE Stop it." Brent asked loudly, turning to the snotling that was poking him. The snotling that poked Brent hid his stick behind his back, whistling like he was doing something else. What a fiend. Brent slowly looked away from the snotling to continue on making his plan again.

Poke.

Once after Brent escapes the orks' shack, he would have to find a way to get back to his friends.

Poke.

And that was when Brent remembered something.

Poke.

There were now those other slimes to worry about.

Poke.

But not just any of the human-turned-slime kind of slimes, but wild slimes.

Poke.

And these wild slimes looked incredibly similar to Tiffany, Samantha, and Brent.

Poke.

How will he be able to tell his friends apart from the other tabby, rock, and phosphor slimes?

Poke.

Maybe if he had access to one of those fashion pod curios, then maybe he could affix them with some fashion items, enabling him a means to find his friends more expediently?

Poke.

Brent turned quickly to the snotling with an angry expression. "I have asked you nicely before, so now I am going to warn you. If you poke me with that stick again, then I am going to do something the both of us will regret. Poke me again and **I! WILL! BITE YOU!**" The mischievous smile that was on the snotling's face vanished in seconds. He tilted his head slightly as his beady red eyes analyzed Brent with some curiosity. Brent was unsure if the warning he gave was clear to the snotling. Even more slowly now, Brent turned away from the snotling. Once he paused for a few seconds, he decided to contemplate on his plan again. Or would have, had the snotling took the warning and left Brent alone.

Poke.

Poke.

Poke.

Poke.

Poke.

Poke.

Poke.

Poke.

Poke.

Brent was not going to tolerate this any longer. He lashed out, mouth wide open and ready to punish the tiny green bastard that failed to heed his warning from before. The snotling was surprised as his arm was entrapped by an adhesive tongue, and was unable to retreat as Brent's mouth pulled him in and wrapped around over half of the snotling's torso. Muffled screaming was heard from within Brent's mouth, but he didn't care anymore. He chomped down on the snotling, more focused on harming the tiny bastard rather than eating him. The snotling flailed wildly as his legs kicked around, both surprised that Brent could slip past the bars of his cage to bite at his tormentor, and terrified upon being surrounded by horrible gnashing, scratching, chewing, piercing slimy teeth.

The other snotlings watched in horror as their brother became mangled by Brent's maw.

And now, with the snotling sufficiently punished by Brent's biting, he released him. The punished snotling's entire upper body was horribly disfigured. Where there was once ears and a nose were now chewed-off lumps. His face, arms and upper torso was pockmarked with several puncture wounds. But the worst crippling injuries the snotling sustained was to his eyes, for he now had no eyes to see with.

The taste of iron and salty blood was spat out. Brent was rather surprised that he did so much damage. How many teeth did he have? "I warned you." Brent growled, which made the snotling scuttle away in blind fear. Unfortunately, the crippled snotling had accidentally wandered blindly into the cooking fire, making him flail in screaming pain before becoming silent. His flesh was cooked before it charred into burnt meat, its smell filling the room with an odd mixture of overcooked mushrooms and burnt frog legs. Sadly, the smell had made Brent hungry again.

And, unfortunately, the snotlings that saw Brent biting their brother have became witnesses to a murder.

Not wanting to have the snotling tattlers telling their masters that Brent was responsible for the death of one of their brothers, Brent decided to come up with a threat on the spot. "And if you guys so much as tell a word of this to Gorggat, Grashnik, or anyone else, then you will end up like that bastard!"

The other snotlings scampered away, frightened by the implication of becoming green and red ground beef, like what happened after their brother continued teasing the captive pink slime. It seemed as though the threat worked.

Unfortunately, Brent didn't have more time to think of a plan to escape, for it was around this time that Gorggat and Grashnik came back from their slime fighting escapade. Grishnak heaved his spear off of his shoulder and leaned it on the wall, panting heavily as he did so. "Phew! neva thought i'd eva get tired fight'n' an krump'n. I lost kount on how many wobbliez i krumped."

Gorggat rolled his neck as he dropped his ugly and huge sword. "Yer kall dat krump'n? ma choppa an your spear keeps pass'n right throo im! it's like dey were dose chaos bugeyez, 'sept dey don't really put up much uv a fight! It'd probably be fasta if I stepped on all of dem!"

"But stomp'n im doesn't work!" Grashnik groaned. "Gork an Mork knows i've tried! take yer boot off uv dere faces an dey get back right up from da puddles dey leave behind!"

Gorggat growled. "Only way i kan fink ta get rid uv im iz ta drow im outta our property."

Grashnik shook his head. "We've been do'n dat for a long while, 'sept i've been notic'n dat dey keep popp'n outta da ground every time we do."

Gorggat huffed. "Have yer seen any uv dose wobbly slimes lay dere plort fings an bury im 'n 'da ground?"

Grashnik shook his head as he pulled several plorts out of his various pockets. "No, but i have been pick'n im up anytime i find im. I notice dat dey make dese fings every time dey eat someth'n."

Gorggat pointed at Grashnik's gathered plorts. "So are dese plort fings eggs or not den?! i's dink'n dey made a bunch uv dese plorts an buried im while we was on our hunt'n trip!"

Grashnik shrugged his shoulders. "Well whateva dese bug-eyed wobbly slimes did ta make demselves pop outta 'da ground like dat, i reckon we don't have 'da tools ta get rid uv all uv im. We might need a burna ta kill im all."

Gorggat nodded and huffed in agreement. However, he turned his head upward and began smelling something. "Huh. Speak'n uv burnaz, do ya smell someth'n?"

Grashnik turned his head up and smelled the air too. "... Oh! smells like someone's been kook'n!"

Gorggat looked at the fire pit to find what had been making that smell. "... Oh. Looks like wun uv 'da snots tripped into 'da fire." His eyes then spotted a blood trail that led from the fire pit to Brent's cage. Brent didn't like the look Gorggat was giving him. "Or maybe not. Oi! brent 'da slime git! ya saw someth'n happen ere?"

The surrounding snotlings smiled broadly as the slime was put under the limelight, elated by the thought of one of their brothers being avenged by their master.

Brent paused for a few seconds before coming up with an answer. "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

Gorggat's brows furrowed at Brent. "I'll be 'da judge uv dat. Tell me wat happened, or i will kook ya alive."

Brent sighed. "Well, you told your little snotling guys to not eat me, right?"

"Yeah?" Gorggat replied.

"Well one of them decided that they weren't gonna eat me. Instead, one of them decided to poke me with a pointy stick." Brent explained.

Gorggat nodded. "Oh, I fink ya means da fire pokin' snot."

"I told him to stop many times, but he kept on poking me despite my requests. After, like, thirty times or something, I decided to bite him."

"Ya bit him?" Gorggat asked in a surprised tone.

Brent nodded. "It was just one bite, but it was enough to scare him into not poking me with his stick again."

Gorggat blinked. Brent could tell that Gorggat's brain was processing too many thoughts at once. "So ya scared him into da fire pit?"

Brent nodded again. "Yes. And that's my story."

There was a long pause before Gorggat decided to let out a chuckle. "Yer know wot? yer're right! i don't believe ya. Da only bug-eyed wobbly slimes 'dat i know kan hurt me are dose blue spiky ones. And as fer yaself, ya ain't very spiky at all. Or scary look'n."

The surrounding snotlings frowned in dismay as the slime told the story on what happened to their brother, with their elation brought low by Gorggat's dismissal of Brent's alibi.

Brent smiled. "Also, I am adorable."

Gorggat scoffed. "Naaah, ya're not. I'd prefa squigs ova slimes as adorable pets."

Grashnik took many of the pink plorts he collected and dropped them in the cooking pot over the fire pit. "If ya two are done gobb'n at each other, i got some questions i want ta ask Brent."

Gorggat grumbled an approximation of what sounded like a 'go ahead' as he decided to sharpen his sword. Or 'choppa' as he called it. Brent turned to Grashnik. "I guess I can spare you some answers. What questions do you have?" Brent asked.

"We met some new types uv bug-eyed wobbly slimes tonight." Grashnik explained. "'der's gray ones 'dat look like kitty kats. Den 'der's da glowy ones ya kalled phosphor slimes. Den 'der's 'da blue spiky ones. But den 'der are, like, loads uv dose of you whitish-red slimes. How kome 'der are so many slimes all uv a sudden? Ya know someth'n bout dat?"

Brent couldn't shrug, but he sighed instead. "You mean the tabby slimes, rock slimes, and pink slimes? To be fair, I have no idea there were so many in this area. Unfortunately, I don't know why they are spawning here too."

"Ya don't know, huh? so dey're jus invad'n dis property for no reason?" Grashnik questioned.

"Many slimes are drawn to food, so they tend to gather where the food is. I guess that mushroom patch in the forest behind your shack has a lot of tasty stuff to eat." Brent explained.

"Is that right?" Grashnik said, stirring the contents of the cooking pot. "So wot do ya slimes eat?"

"Depends on the type of slime they- I mean we are." Brent explained. "Rock slimes like to eat veggies, tabby slimes like to eat meat, phosphor slimes like to eat fruit, and pink slimes eat veggies, fruit, and meat."

"Mm." Grashnik took out a spoonful of soup out of the cooking pot and slurped it up. "So eh... Do slimes eat mushrooms an' fungi?"

Brent thought about it for a moment. "Hmm... I guess mushrooms would be considered part of the vegetables food group. So... yeah, they would be eaten by rock slimes and pink slimes."

Grashnik snarled. "'Dat might be a problem. If dey eat everyth'n 'dat grows an' komes outta our mushroom patch, den 'da bug-eyed wobbly slimes would eat us outta our home ere. We'd be starvin' soon!" Grashnik turned to Gorggat. "Gorggat, I fink we gotta send a message ta da warboss. Tell 'em dese slimes are eat'n up everyth'n ere."

"Ya rememba da last time we sent anyth'n ta Big Boss Bonebita? 'e ordered wun uv his nobs ta move us ta dis fish'n spot. We've been liv'n ere eva since." Gorggat said, crossing his arms.

"Oh yeah..." Grashnik said as he placed a heavy hand on his chin. "Wot did we do ta get ourselves shipped out ere again?"

Gorggat looked to the left and right before answering. "Whateva it was, it had noth'n ta do wit' 'da gitfinda 'dat i proudly own."

Grashnik shook his head. "Well whateva incident 'dat made us get ordered ta stay 'n dis fish'n shack here no longa mattaz. We need ta kontact our boss, Nobbytoof, and tell im about da slimes."

Gorggat chuckled and dismissed Grashnik. "Wot are yer gobb'n on about? if we kan't eat all 'da mushrooms an' squigs we want, we kan eat 'da slimes instead! 'da blue rock ones might be mighty ard an' pointy, but 'der are a lot uv dose pink slimes we kan put 'n our kook'n pot." Gorggat then turned to Brent, a look of brutal cunning simmering in his eyes. "But den 'der's 'da matta regard'n brent ere. 'e's seems awfully smart, 'e wounded wun uv our snots, an' I'z gett'n 'da feel'n 'dat 'e's not tell'n us everyth'n about da slimes an dis planet. I'm fink'n dere might be more like him out dere somewheres."

Brent wasn't sure how to respond to that. He initially thought that Gorggat and Grashnik were a bunch of dullards, but their personalities played off of each other's mental strengths in ways that surprised Brent. And now, the two orks were wary of Brent and his intelligence. And worse, they might get the idea to search for Brent's friends. The thought of Gorggat and Grashnik finding and trapping Tiffany, Samantha, and Robert in cages made Brent feel a sense of dread.

A bashing sound was heard outside of the shack, which made its shoddy walls shake around briefly.

Gorggat looked up at the shack's ceiling suddenly. "Wot?! did a branch fall on 'da roof or something?!"

Afterwards, several thunderous impacts landed on the ork shack, threatening to flatten the building to the ground.

Grashnik ran to pick up his spear. "'dat ain't no branch! i fink we iz be'n attacked!

Gorggat smiled a toothy smile as he picked up his choppa. "Ooh, okay den! let's attack dese gits right back! Time fer sum fun!"

As Gorggat and Grashnik flew out the front door, Brent caught a glimpse of something he'd somewhat expected to see. Largo slimes. They were launching themselves high into the air, and Brent guessed they were launching themselves at the shack in an attempt to break it open. However, all that did was alert the orks that were living inside the shack. Brent was unable to see the battle ensue between the slimes and the orks, since a bunch of snotlings came to the door and closed it.

"oi! dese bug-eyed wobbly slimes are bigga!" "yeah, i noticed! dey seem tougha too! are dey want'n ta fight us?" "oi! grah! dey're try'n ta stomp us!" "oh no yer don't! orks are 'da ones dat do 'da stomp'n around ere!"

And that was when Brent noticed the window of opportunity that was presented before him.

The snotlings were busy closing the door.

Gorggat and Grashnik were busy fighting the largo slimes.

Brent had no ork or gretchin or snotling paying attention to him.

He decided to make his escape right then and there.

He squished himself past the thick iron bars of his cage and slipped out.

Brent escaped the cage!

Now that Brent has loosed himself, he will need to find a way out of the orks' fishing shack. The shack itself was made of shoddy metal and other materials, and he hoped that he could find a hole that led outside. Brent saw a glimpse of moonlight from a hole in one of the walls of the shack, so he moved towards it, taking the chance to leave the ork shack. Excited chittering called out behind Brent, which warned him that the snotlings discovered that the cage Brent left was empty, and was now aware of his escape.

But it was too late for them to do anything about it once Brent found the hole that led outside the shack. It was smaller than the head of a snotling, but Brent pushed himself through it.

The cold night air greeted Brent as he left the shack, but he also met several largos after having left the shack. Their eyes were fixated upon the orks that attacked them earlier. They payed little attention to Brent, though one or two diverted their attention to him only briefly before they focused back on the orks, or continued attacking the fishing shack. Brent didn't dare to stop and say "thank you" to the largos. He began fleeing, slipping and sliding away from the ork shack. He began to head toward the ocean.

Once Brent got himself into the salty sea, he looked back onto the shore. The orks were fighting a tough battle with the largo slimes, and they seemed to be merrily invested in the fight. Gorggat's choppa plunged and sliced, while Grashnik's spear pierced and stabbed, and both were terrifyingly powerful with their attacks, fighting like battle-hungry war machines. The rock slimes gave the orks some trouble, as their rock crowns proved to be too dense and tough for their weapons to damage. And if they did attack the rock largos, they would be wounded by their spiky crowns. However, the gathering of pink largos swarmed the orks still. They leapt up into the air and landed heavily on the orks, and they smothered them with bites and sharp rock crowns. It was due to the overwhelming numbers of the slime largos that the orks finally fell in battle.

Brent saw that the orks were defeated by the slimes. The slimes secured their victory by biting off the limbs of the orks and segmenting their torsos in half. Afterwards, the largos then began assailing the orks' fishing shack once more. They launched themselves high into the air and began hammering onto the shack's roof. Eventually, the slimes made the shack's roof cave-in, and the snotlings hiding inside were all summarily hunted and consumed.

Brent sighed. At least he was no longer a captive to those orks. But then again, Brent's gaze lingered on the multitude of largos that now populated the beach. He recognized none of them, and the thought of never finding Tiffany, Samantha, or Robert again worried him.

At least he had the motion of the ocean to calm him and his senses.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, those orks were planning to eat Brent anyway.**


	12. Tarr and Friends

**Tarr and Friends**

* * *

The ocean waves were calm and comforting. The trees that cradled and grew the poisonous purple apples were feasted upon by the phosphor slimes, both pure and largo types, much to the sharp-beaked birds chagrin. Rock slimes rolled into each other and into everything that was in their reach. Tabby slimes pounced and played. Pink slimes were everywhere and ate everything that agreed to their pallet. The fishing shack that the orks once lived in was now flattened beyond recognition, and the little inhabitants that once lived in it, which were the snotlings, were gobbled up.

There were a few strange animals that came out from the shaded fungus field, whose mouths were half the size of their bodies, walked around on two legs, and were quite vicious-looking. They must have been these 'squigs' that Brent heard Robert mention. Despite their dangerous set of sharp teeth, the slimes were quick to retaliate against their would-be predators. The sharp crowns of the rocky slimes made it hard for the squigs to bite and eat them, while the largo slime variants fought against them with equal aggression. Brent even saw a few snotlings emerging from the mushroom patches, only to be devoured by the slimes. He even saw a gretchin and an ork come out of the ground from the mushroom patches, but were also assailed by largo slimes in a similar manner.

Brent was unsure if he should stay in the sea water or risk going through the group of slimes to find his friends. Would he ever find his friends again? That question burned into his mind, and it was the question he was most concerned with.

Brent sighed and floated towards the sandy beach. "Might as well start searching for my investigation team. ... If it's even still called that."

But then again, Brent did remember one vital detail that would help him in his search for the company he was removed from some time ago. These wild slimes didn't know how to speak English. Robert, Samantha, and Tiffany can speak, even after they had been turned into slimes.

At the same time, that also raised another question in Brent's head. The orks seemed to have spoken a completely different language, which was a language Brent was unfamiliar with. And even then, Brent still understood them even when they talked. Brent was unsure on how this was possible, even when he knew that his mind might not piece together on how that was possible at the moment. The way they talked was blunt and guttural, yet Brent understood them like he had already learned their language! It was much like talking in a second language, but it was a language that he had never learned in the first place, and yet he had spoken it so naturally, whatever the language was.

Brent shook his head as he beached himself. He could make sense of it later. He decided to stop mucking around and become reacquainted with his team.

"Rob? Sam? Tiff?" Brent said aloud to the slimes and largos in his vicinity. They all turned to him, but none responded in Tiffany, Samantha, or Robert's voices. They paused for a few seconds before returning to their previous activities.

Brent sighed as he continued on, heading towards the cave he once emerged from. "Rob? Sam? Tiff?" He called out again. Blank, curious stares answered his call, but they were not the slimes he was looking for. He kept on and continued to the cave entrance.

That was when he heard a menacing noise. It was a deep growl that was deeper by normal slime standards, and Brent guessed the noise was behind him and a fair distance away. Brent turned around to find a terrible sight, which stood among a group of pure slimes and largos slimes alike near the ruined ork shack. It was black and ravenous, and its surface shimmered like oil spilling onto water, which formed a kaleidoscope of rainbows.

A Tarr had formed.

Brent sighed as he turned away and quickly continued into the cave, proceeding forward without hesitation. He knew if he stayed around for too long, he would have his fate sealed. At least on the bright side, the Tarr never lingered for very long. Once an hour passes, the Tarr population would begin to dwindle to nothing. And on another note, the Tarr would also affect the mushroom patches, making them wither and die from their touch. Any ork or other green-skinned monster that emerges from those mushroom patches would most certainly suffer a fate subjectively worse than the punishment brought onto them by pure slimes or largo slimes.

"Rob? Sam? Tiff?" Brent called again as he slipped into the cave entrance. The cave was populated by a few pink slimes and fewer phosphor slimes, whilst one or two newer slimes popped out of the ground. They went past Brent, deciding that listening to him calling for his friends was less satisfactory than eating something. Brent wanted to warn them of the Tarr outbreak forming outside, but he knew that his words would go into one ear and out through the other. ... Or at least the slime equivalent of ears, that is.

Brent could not continue further, unfortunately. A black veil of darkness stopped his progress. Last time he was here, two orks had carried him back to their fishing shack for questioning, and perhaps to eat him if Brent didn't answer their questions satisfactorily. And before then, he was running away from a spear-wielding ork that happened to chase him into the caves in the first place.

"Crap." Brent groaned as he looked at the endless darkness. He looked behind himself to see the newly spawned slimes sliding out of the cave. He could hear distant growls, but Brent knew that he was safe from the Tarr. So long as he gave them no reason to come after him.

Unlike the last time, Brent could think of a few beneficial options that could help him navigate through the dark caves, rather than stay where he is and risk becoming cannibalized by the Tarr. He'd have to be quick about it, if he wanted to avoid getting the Tarr's attention. Brent moved outside and looked at the ground for something to eat. After rummaging through some leaves, he found a purple fruit that was hidden. It was bruised on one side, but it was enough for the plan he thought up. He then looked around for a phosphor slime. The closest one to him was a phosphor rock largo, which lazily floated in the air, distracted by the pattern of leaves the tree had. Brent assumed the largo was looking for fruit in the tree. He picked up the purple apple with his mouth and waved the fruit's good side at the slime. "Hey~. Gome geh a kaysky ahhle~. You wan ih~?"

The phosphor rock largo looked down at Brent and saw the fruit he carried. It's eyes brightened up as it began floating towards him.

The bait worked.

Brent began to backpedal back to the cave he came from, ensuring that the phosphor rock largo followed after him and kept interested in the fruit he carried. And now, Brent had a portable lamp that followed him wherever he went. Fortunately, this meant that he no longer had to be near the Tarr outbreak anymore, or had to rely on his echolocation to navigate the dark caverns. Unfortunately, Brent couldn't call for his friends while he had an apple in his mouth, lest he risked dropping and losing it to the phosphor rock largo.

The slime largo that followed after Brent gurgled hungrily for the prize that Brent teased it with, but Brent did his best to keep the phosphor rock largo interested in the fruit he carried, and also kept himself from eating the purple apple as well. With the phosphor rock largo emitting light from behind him, Brent could navigate the caverns and find his way back to his friends on the other side of the mountain. Fortunately for Brent, he could navigate the darkness of the caverns much better than before, thanks to the help of the phosphor rock largo. Without the help of a phosphor slime, Brent's return trip through the caverns would have been much more difficult.

The trek through the mountain caverns was uneventful, but having a light source handy enabled Brent to see the caves within with unobstructed clarity. The caves were dank and dark, which had formed several stalactites, stalagmites, and various columns of rock that made the underground mountain caverns stretch on and on. Brent could see it all! Some chambers were connected to tunnels that lead to other chambers, while some tunnel entrances lead to dead-ends. However, Brent wasn't too worried. Once before, he inadvertently managed to find his friends in this cave using nothing but echolocation. He was confident he would find them again, now that he had escaped his ork captors.

His re-adventure through the caves were cut short however, as three pink largos came out from a corner at a bend in a tunnel. The reason why they stopped his progress was because they were too wide to pass around. There wasn't enough time to head back, as the phosphor rock largo blocked him in behind him. Brent was immediately trapped between the largos, and the phosphor rock largo that followed him was able to nab the fruit in his mouth. "Gah! No! I needed that, you slime-ball!" Brent chided at the largo behind himself.

And that was when he heard some familiar voices.

"What's the hold up?" "It's Brent! And... another slime?!" "What?!" "Yeah! There's another slime here! It looks like a phosphor rock largo!" "Is it another human?" "I don't know."

Brent realized that the pink largos before him were Tiffany, Samantha, and Robert. Brent stared at the three pink largos before him, surprised by their changes. "Wait... Robert?! Samantha?! Tiffany?!"

A pink phosphor largo quickly crawled to Brent and smothered his face. "OH-MAH-GAWSH-WE-FOUND-YOU-I'M-SO-HAPPY!"

The pink tabby in the middle of the group rolled her eyes. "And here we go with this again."

The pink rock largo behind the pink tabby paused. "So... Brent, once a hostage to those orks, rescued himself? We don't need to run at them with guns blazing? Is that what is happening, Sam?"

Samantha, the pink tabby largo nodded at the pink rock largo behind herself. "Yes Robert."

Robert sighed in exasperation. "So turning ourselves into largos was a pointless part of the plan."

Tiffany, presumably, was smiling brightly in joy as she smothered Brent. "How did you get away from those orks?!"

Brent removed himself from Tiffany's embrace and chuckled. "Well, I didn't get out of there on my own. I had some unexpected help." Brent said with a smirk.

Samantha blinked. "Is he like us? A human that got turned into a slime?"

Brent shook his head. "No. It's a wild slime."

Samantha blinked again. "A wild slime? How can you tell?"

"Easy." Brent said. He then turned around to face the phosphor rock largo that was now happily munching on the purple apple. "Hey. My name is Brent. Can you tell me your name?" The slime paused as Brent asked it a question. After a few seconds passed, it began chewing on its fruit again. Brent turned around to face his human-turned-slime friends. "If he really was a human once before, he would have answered me with his name in our language."

Tiffany blinked. "So you're saying he's a normal native slime from the Far, Far Range? How did he help you escape?"

Brent approximated a shrug. "Actually, it wasn't just this slime that saved me. A whole swarm of largos helped me out of there."

Tiffany stared at Brent wide-eyed. "A swarm?!"

"Yeah." Brent replied. "Luckily for me, the only reason I escaped was because the orks were assailed by the swarm of aggressive largos. It was through their intervention that granted me the opportunity to flee from the orks' fishing shack in the first place."

"How did the orks fair against the slime largos?" Tiffany asked.

"Poorly." Brent answered. "They used melee weaponry against the slimes as the slimes stomped and bit them. They ended up being eaten and had their shack flattened. They even ate their snotling servants, and are now eating anything came out from the mushroom patches that grew behind the fishing shack."

Robert groaned. "Non-adhesives spray would have saved their butts, but I ain't saying that out of sympathy. Those green bastards deserve what happened to them in the end." Robert then paused. "... Wait. What's a snotling?"

Brent approximated another shrug. "I guess it's some kind of baby ork, or something. I honestly don't know anything about this alien species, or where they come from." Brent's expression then became grim. "But I did learn that there are more than just those two orks living in this world. There is a good chance we might meet more of them. Possibly even more of those goblin-looking guys and their snotling servants."

Samantha nodded flatly. "We didn't know anything about snotling servants, but we do know that there are more of those orks and gretchins. A few of them left on a large rickety boat only a couple days ago."

Brent's eyes trained on Samantha. "So there really are more than just the two that caught me?"

Samantha nodded again. "They gathered up a bunch of fishing supplies from those two orks living in that fishing shack and left for the sea. It was after they had left that we decided to take our chances. We've fled into the cave system ever since then."

"Wait!" Robert pushed past Samantha and Tiffany, coming up to Brent's face. "Brent, did you see more orks too?"

Brent shook his head. "No, but the two orks did say something about some sort of fort being full of them. I think they might have a base of operations somewhere close by."

Robert groaned. "Dammit. If there's a fort full of orks somewhere on this planet, then it's only a matter of time till those other orks realize they are not alone."

Samantha headbutted Robert's back. "Well OBVIOUSLY! We need to get back to our planet, contact the 7Zee Corporation that there are dangerous aliens on this world, and then find a way to turn ourselves back into humans!"

Tiffany's expression darkened. "Are we gonna get captured and eaten by the orks?"

Robert shook his head at Tiffany sternly. "No. Not while I'm here. We might not know what planet we're on, but we can still band together and help each other out whenever one of us gets in trouble." Robert then turned to Brent, his sternness a little deflated. "Even though Brent's hide was saved by unexpected help from our wild slime friends."

Samantha came closer to Robert, Tiffany and Brent. "Wait. But what if this slime was one of the aggressive slimes back from the Far, Far Range? What if it finds out we're human?"

Brent looked at the phosphor rock largo, whom had already made two plorts from the apple it ate. It smiled dumbly at Brent, unaware of the role it played. Brent shrugged. "I don't think they're smart enough to find that out, Sam." That was when Brent remembered something he had nearly forgotten. "... Oh, I am such an idiot! I forgot to ask! What happened to those three other guys that were sucked into that vortex?"

"What do you mean?" Robert asked.

"Remember what happened at the other warp station in the Glass Desert? Those three guys that tried to capture us for questioning." Brent explained.

Robert looked at the ground in thought. "... Oh yeah. There was that guy in the huge suit and weird staff. He broke my arm."

Samantha nodded with Robert. "Yeah. There was also that huge armored man with the electrical claw weapons."

Tiffany shuddered. "And that weird and creepy red robed guy with those multiple metal arms that spoke in a harsh, uncomfortable voice."

Brent nodded at them. "Yeah! What happened to them? Shouldn't they be with us? Shouldn't they have woken up right next to you guys? How did we end up here while those three just, oh I dunno, just vanished into thin air for no reason?"

Samantha sighed. "One mystery at a time, Brent. We're aren't all private investigators here." She then turned around and began to head the way she came from. "Anyway, we are wasting time here. Let's head back to the other side of this mountain. Tiff, you're up front."

"Right." Tiffany said as she slipped past Samantha.

Robert scooched to the side. "Here Brent. Follow Sam."

Brent nodded and followed after Samantha. However, Brent was not about to remain quiet during the journey. "And another thing. I noticed that every one of you are now pink largos. When did that happen?"

Robert groaned. "Tiff insisted that we use your pink plorts to embiggen ourselves, and then use our new size to storm the fishing shack in order to get you out of there."

"How? I thought you were against being turned into a largo?" Brent asked.

"I was. However, Tiffany can be sickeningly persuasive." Robert then sighed as he looked down at Brent. "If I ever get back to civilization, I'm going to have a stack of pancakes and a cup of cocoa spiked with a lot of bourbon. After that, I'm going to find out if my insurance covers a broken arm. Maybe I should ask it it covers me being turned into a slime? Anyway, once all that is done, I'm going into early retirement. My career as a bodyguard will officially be over."

Samantha rolled her eyes. "Well for that to happen, you'd have to find a starport owned by the 7Zee Corporation first. I doubt we'll find one on this planet though..."

"At least we found each other again." Tiffany said in an upbeat tone. After a few seconds passed, she slowed down slightly. "Say, Brent? You said wild slimes assisted you with your escape from the orks. Did you know how they got there?"

Brent shook his head. "No idea. I did hear from the orks that they were popping out of the ground."

"Were they also producing plorts?" Tiffany asked.

"Yes." Brent answered. "They were also turning into the Tarr, but I was able to leave before I was in any danger."

Tiffany paused for a few seconds before continuing. "I see... That's... That's strange. Strange, and a bit unsettling."

Samantha perked her ears. "How is that strange, Tiff?"

"Slimes had only ever produced plorts on their homeworld, the Far, Far Range. However, not only are they making plorts like we would after eating something on this world, it appears to me they are now spawning out of the ground too, and only after some hours of time had elapsed in this world." Tiffany said in a concerned tone. "... I believe our arrival on this planet may have not only affected us, but also the slimes that are spawning here. I have no doubt in my mind that the presence of the wild slimes alone is beginning to affect our surrounding environment. This might drastically change the ecosystem at a fundamental level. It might even cause the weaker natives living on this planet to become extinct in the following years to come."

Samantha blinked. "So what does that mean? Are you saying the slimes somehow became an invasive species after coming to this planet?"

Tiffany nodded. "It's a possibility. Especially if the slimes are able to pop out of the ground, create a plort from eating something, AND turn into the Tarr when they consume each others' plorts. I hypothesize two scenarios. One scenario is that there is an element that restricts the slimes from making plorts or reproducing their numbers on another world, and that this element is completely absent on the Far, Far Range. This scenario would explain that this world is free from that specific environmental element, which is enabling the slimes from the Far, Far Range to reproduce on this planet. On the other hand, it could mean the opposite in the second scenario, meaning that this element in question is something the slimes require to reproduce and is only found on their homeworld. This second scenario would explain that this world contains an element that is abundant on the Far, Far Range, which is enabling them the ability to make plorts and reproduce."

Robert was puzzled. "You know, I don't think I have ever seen slimes reproduce before."

Tiffany huffed. "Probably because we assume they do much of their breeding under the Far, Far Range's Slime Sea, but that's only the most popular theory everyone believes to be true. For all we know, all slimes breed after they become translucent and they enter the slime sea, even though there's no scientific method that will enable us to see **that** magic happen. For all we know, they split apart in a process similar to mitosis, or cell division if you want to know the layman's term. For all we know, they might lay microscopic eggs that hatch into baby slimes, which grow up into the slimes. We don't know anything about their mating rituals and reproductive methods, if they even have them in the first place."

Samantha hummed to herself before a smirk played across her face. "Twenty newbucks says the slimes reproduce by making spores."

"No way." Robert said, sticking his tongue out. "And besides, your money isn't good here."

Samantha smiled at Robert. "Oh really? What makes you say that?"

"You're a pink tabby slime. You don't have pockets to store newbucks with, and you don't have any newbucks with you." Robert replied.

Tiffany giggled. "How about this? Twenty imaginary points goes into the pot. Whoever guesses right and wins the bet gets the twenty points. Take your bets!"

Brent shook his head. "I'm staying out of this."

"Me too." Robert added.

Samantha rolled her eyes and sighed. "Pass."

"Come on, guys! Where's your sense of fun? I'm trying to lighten up the mood so everyone won't become a depressed ninny!" Tiffany whined.

"Face it, Tiff." Samantha assured. "We have no way to find out how slimes reproduce. You're just making up rules to a pointless game with no winners. I'd rather play Eye Spy in all honesty."

"I spy in my slimy eye... a rock." Robert mocked.

"We could play Twenty Questions?" Brent offered.

"Good idea, Brent!" Tiffany chimed.

Robert groaned while Samantha copied him. This was going to be a long trip back to the shrubland.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry that I have been inactive. I have been playing Bloons TD5. 'w';;**


	13. The Green Tide Comes

**The Green Tide Comes**

* * *

Nobbytoof always considered himself to be an orky ork. In fact, he was so orky that the other orks had collectively decided he should be promoted to a nob. However, Nobbytooth had to do some serious roughhousing with the other orks to make them believe he should be their nob, but his brutality and cunning eventually paid off. Unfortunately for Nobbytoof, he was the smallest of the nobs that was under the command of Big Boss Bonebita.

Despite being a 'smaller-than-average' nob, a nob still had his pros and cons. One such pros: Having the ability to boss around his ork boys and gretchins.

Currently, Nobbytoof was commanding the boat's wheel, sailing through familiar waters in the early morning. His small army of greenskins were crewing a large fishing barge, decorated in jagged spikes that was painted red. The number of turrets that pointed out from its starboard and port side positions were numerous, and were comically large. These turrets were designed so that they could shoot at any direction, including straight down into the sea, as though its main focus was to shoot at a terrible sea behemoth, or fight an enemy submersible hiding right underneath them. Some turrets were even designed with harpoons built along their barrels, which would launch toward their target and impale them. The orks and gretchins that manned these turrets would sometimes forget to attach rope to the harpoons, but it would normally take only one or two properly tied harpoons to anchor their ship to their prey/enemy. The crow's nest was little more than a bucket that had a long pole skewered through its middle, which fitted a small gretchin within it. What a nonsensical design!

However, every ork and gretchin, worth their weight with their own teeth and green hide, grumbled and growled in annoyance. The hauls they carried back from their fishing trips normally held a plentiful bounty that fed everyone on their boat fifty times over. However, their nob boss had a 'bad gut feeling', as he called it. This gut feeling had swelled up in his belly so bad that he ordered his boys and grots to turn the fishing boat around. They were now heading back to the fishing shack with their barge only halfway full of fish.

Despite being a 'smaller-than-average' nob, being a nob is not without its headaches. One such cons: Getting his ork boys and gretchins to listen to him.

One such ork boy whined a gravely whine as he approached Nobbytoof, heaving a load of shoddy fishing rods. "I don't understand why we have ta go back, boss."

"Ya don't need ta understand, ya git. I jus got dis feeling, see? An' dis feel'n got me dink'n dat 'da Boyz we left back at our fish'n shack iz fight'n' without us. Dat's why we iz goin' back." Nobbytoof grunted derisively back at his boy.

The boy groaned. "Wot? Just because Grashnik an' Gorggat is havin' dere own fun? I say let em' ave' dere own fun! Dose two gits ain't worth 'da effort!"

Nobbytoof rolled his eyes. "If it were not for my ordaz kom'n from 'da big boss, I'd kick dose freeloadaz outta our group long ago. But now, we iz comin' back to check up on dem, and dat's final."

The disgruntled ork boy snarled at nothing in particular as he dropped his load of rods. "If Bonebita finds out we didn't kome back wit' a barge full uv squigsharks-"

Nobbytoof reached behind himself and grabbed the loudmouth ork boy by his neck and stared sternly at his eyes. "Listen ere ya stupid git. 'E's not gunna find out because I say 'e's not gunna find out. We'll go back ta fish'n 'n da sea before 'e or anyone else finds out, an' yer're gunna shut yer mouth about dis else yer're gonna start swimmin' back ta da fish'n shack. Understand?"

The ork boy struggled a bit before relaxing. "Alright! Alright boss! I'll keep ma mouth shut! I swears on Gork an' Mork!"

Nobbytoof released the ork boy. "Dat's a gud boy. Now pick up dose fish'n rods or Iz putt'n ya ta runtherd duty FOREVA!

The ork boy picked up the fishing rods and sulked away with haste. Hauling supplies was a job normally delegated to the gretchins, but many fishing trips often resulted in a loss of crew for the entire barge. There were plenty of big fish that hunted and preyed in the ocean, after all.

Nobbytoof glared at the retreating ork before he went back to steering the wheel again. He was adorned with a uniform that resembled something a pirate might wear. A blue greatcoat covers his green torso, yet splashes of old blood had stained it. An eye-patch covered one red eye, while his kaptin hat had the traditional ork-skull-and-crossbones emblazoned on the front. His hat also happened to have several fishing hooks pierced through the brim of his hat. His chopper was shaped like an overly large, yet poorly shaped, scimitar.

"LAND HO!" A gretchin shouted from the safety from his crow's nest, whom might have been the only gretchin on the entire boat that was smart enough to stay away from the water. He must have seen a lot of gretchins becoming fish food when they strayed too near the water's edge.

Nobbytoof grinned a toothy grin. "KAN YA SEE DA SHACK, GROT?!"

"SCANN'N FOR OUR FISH'N SHACK RIGHT NOW, NOBBYTOOF! UH... ... HUH? WOT?! NOBBYTOOF! I SEES OUR FISH'N SHACK, BUT IT'S ALL FLAT-LIKE!"

Nobbytoof didn't like that response. "WOT DO YER MEAN IT'S FLAT-LIKE?! DID GORGGAT AN' GRASHNIK FIND A SPARE TRUK SOMEWHERES AN' DROVE IT OVA OUR SHACK?! OH 'DAT ABOUT TEARS IT! I'Z KICK'N IM OUTTA MA KREW ONCE I GET BACK! I DON'T KARE IF BONEBITA CHEWS OUT MA EARS, BECAUSE ZHOSE TWO ZOG-BRAINED DIMWITS AVE PUSHED ME TO MAH LIMIT!"

"I SEES SOMETHINGS ELSE, BOSS! SOME SORT UV SHINY LOOK'N BITS ALL ALONG DA BEACHSIDE! SOME LOOK GLOWY!" The gretchin reported.

"WOT?" Nobbytoof didn't know what to make of the gretchin's report. However, the bad feeling he felt in his gut had been right all along. Or rather, he felt a disturbance through his connection to the mysteriously ambiguous anomaly that is unique to the orkoid race, otherwise known as the ork's psychic gestalt field. He felt that the two orks he left behind to look after the fishing shack was having fun. But then he felt that the two orks were no longer having fun, and would never have fun ever again.

Nobbytoof contemplated on what to do for some belated seconds before he shook his head and pointed an authoritative finger towards the shore. "ALRIGHT LADS, LISTEN UP! I FINK SOME FIGHT'N' WENT DOWN AT OUR FISH'N SHACK AN I WANT TA KNOW WHY! IF YA SEES GORGGAT AN GRASHNIK FIGHT'N' SOMETHING, HELP IM KRUMP WHATEVA DEY IZ FIGHT'N'! AFTA 'DA FIGHT IZ DONE, BR'N IM TA ME! I WANNA ASK EM SOME QUESTIONS!"

After Nobbytoof loudly barked his orders, the orks and few gretchins armed themselves with their choppas and shootas. Though they were surprised that they would come back to their home expecting a fight, but it was a welcome change compared to a boring fishing trip.

Once the fishing barge came to a stop at the dock, the orks lumbered off first and charged toward the fishing shack. Alas, it was as the gretchin in the crow's nest reported. It had been flattened. Upon closer inspection, the building looked more like it had been crushed by some unknown force. There were bite marks and strange scratches. But more prominent were the signs of battle that were scattered on and around the shack. Boulders were overturned, trees were pushed over, and scuffs in the dirt, grass and sand told the telltale signs that a fight happened here a long time ago.

Nobbytoof was the last ork off of the fishing barge, while a small band of gretchins that followed after him began to spread out in all directions. Nobbytoof followed his cadre of ork fighters to the flattened fishing shack and saw its damage. His face grew puzzled. "Wot 'n Gork an Mork happened ere?"

One of his ork boys scanned his immediate surroundings. "Dunno boss. Whateva fun happened ere happened a while ago. I see no bodies, but I sees skorch marks near da roof uv da shack. Might mean Gorggat an' Grashnik was attacked dur'n 'da night."

Nobbytoof looked at his subordinate snidely. "Is dat a fact?"

The ork looked up at Nobbytoof and shrugged his shoulders. "Uh... Not really a fact. Just a guess, boss."

"I don't need guessaz 'n ma krew, zog-fer-brains!" Nobbytoof shouted as he pushed the ork boy aside. "I need answaz."

A gretchen came up to Nobbytoof and held up something in his clawed hands. "Looks wot we founds, kaptain! It very shiny fing we found, yes!"

Nobbytoof looked at the object in the gretchin's hands. He was even more puzzled. He picked it up with his broad hands and inspected it. It seemed to pulse in his fingers. It was pink, and had a slightly sweet smell to it. Nobbytoof was even more confused. "Wot 'da zog are dese fings?"

"I dunno boss. 'Der's all kinds uv dese shiny fings all across da beach dough! Blue hard ones, bright little pale blue ones, stripey gray ones, an den 'der's dis supa shiny gold wun I found!" The gretchin said as it held out a golden object for Nobbytoof's perusal.

Nobbytoof eyed the object and he to held that in his other hand. He had no idea that it was a plort. Or, more specifically, a golden plort. His red eye glittered as the light from the plort sparkled. "Ooooh. Very pretty looking shiny bit." He quickly pocketed the plort and pointed at the gretchin. "I don't know wot dese are, but I want ya grots ta kollect dese wobbly bits. Komb 'da beach uv every last wun an' br'n im ere. Understand?"

"Yes boss, we understands!" One gretchin said, while the rest of its brothers nodded. They then began to spread out in all directions and busied themselves in collecting plorts by hand.

Nobbytoof then turned to his boys. "As for ya lot, ya start lookin' for Gorggat an Grashnik. Dey kouldn't have gone far."

His ork boys nodded as they too began to split off in their search for the two orks.

Nobbytoof grunted tiredly as he picked up the flattened roof of the shack and peered under it. He saw that there were no snotling bodies, save for a skeleton of a snotling that was in the fireplace. He didn't know what happened to the fishing shack that Gorggat and Grashnik was supposed to protect, but he suspect that something came and attacked not only the shack, but also the two orks that protected it. Whatever it was, it must have been a dangerous beast. Curiously, he saw no tracks along the ground, meaning that there were no heavy-footed beasts that stalked the area. There were no footprints either, which ruled out enemy soldiers. And even then, if a company of soldiers came through this area, then there would have been more signs of battle, such as bullet-fire, grenade craters, ammo casings, and lots of blood and corpses. So far, Nobbytoof saw nothing of the sort. This mystery was certainly a head-scratcher for the small nob.

Suddenly, something popped out of the ground.

Nobbytoof turned around and saw it. "... Wot?"

A pink slime gurgled and smiled blissfully.

And then, suddenly, more slimes started popping out of the ground.

The few orks and fewer gretchins still in the area with Nobbytoof were visited by the sudden spawning of slimes.

And they looked completely harmless.

A gretchin looked at one of them and cocked his head. "... Did we get ambushed by some tiny bug-eyed wobblies?"

Nobbytoof scrutinized one of the slimes for a few seconds before growling. "Dese fings ain't tough lookin'. No way dey are da ones dat flattened our fishin' shack." Nobbytoof then looked around carefully. "But wot DID flatten our shack anyway?"

* * *

Within the winding tunnels of the under-passage, four slimes embarked on a familiar journey. They slid past landmarks that were familiar to them, slipping past countless rocks and boulders that looked the same, and scooted over various inclines and slopes of rocky stone. They were currently engrossed in a heated discussion.

"What?! Come on, he would SO totally floor Moldy-Butt!" Tiffany exclaimed.

"Palpatine is not only the Emperor, but he's also THE sith lord, a powerful master of the dark side of the force. He would use the force to pull Voldemort's wand from his hands and stop him from casting spells." Samantha hissed.

Brent sighed. "Okay, but in the Harry Potter books, the more powerful wizards were able to practice and reliably cast wandless magic and nonverbal spells. So even without a wand, Voldemort would still be a powerful enemy that Lil' Ol' Palpy would have trouble with. And even if we were to ignore the horcruxes making Voldemort immortal, a sufficiently sized bottomless shaft to throw Palpy into would flat out end the stalemate."

"Please kill me." Robert groaned under his breath. "Kill me and let me bear witness to this nerd-talk no longer."

Tiffany scoffed. "Oh come on, you didn't state Palpatine could only be taken out by an environmental hazard. We're pitting them against each other with only their weapons, armor, and skills. You know, to find out who would win in a death battle!"

Samantha smiled a sigh. "Palpatine would have a bigger advantage over Voldemort anyway. He sorta uses wandless magic and nonverbal spells in a way."

Brent shook his head and groaned. "But Voldemort has the ups, man! Don't you two forget that he can fly? Wizards and witches have access to their broomsticks, while Voldemort can use his unsupported flight ability by becoming smoke. Palpy has no counter for that!"

Robert decided to stop the conversation. "Alright chuckle-heads, it's time to shut up now! We're on the other side of the mountain."

Tiffany beamed a smile. "Oh what joy! I can't wait to go outside again!"

Samantha hissed. "Tiff, no. I can see light at the end of the tunnel. Daylight evaporates phosphor slimes, remember?"

Tiffany pouted. "... Oh poop. And I really wanted to eat something too."

Samantha sighed. "I'll be sure to find something for you."

Tiffany bumped into Samantha's side playfully. "Thaaanks~!"

"Don't think we're done talking about our versus discussion, Tiff!" Brent exclaimed before moving toward the cave entrance.

"In your dreams, you Harry Potter fanboy! Go be a muggle outside!" Tiffany teased.

"Have fun being in the dark side. Too bad it has no cookies!" Brent teased back.

"Don't talk about cookies, you dork! I'm hungry!" Tiffany whined.

Brent chuckled, but he was saddened as he continued on without Tiffany. Leaving Tiffany in the cave stung him a little. He didn't want to leave her alone, but she also needed food. Once Brent followed Robert and Samantha outside, he decided to voice his opinion. "I hope we can find some food for Tiff soon. It feels like it's been a while since we've been outside."

Robert shrugged. "I remember that last time we were here, you scared our pants off."

"But we weren't wearing pants at the time." Samantha added.

Robert rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, I didn't ask you. Let's just hope we don't run into... any... more... orks?"

Brent and Samantha noticed Robert was trailing his sentences. When they turned to see what Robert was looking at, their expressions became that of surprise. They could hardly believe it, but they are seeing it for themselves.

Slimes.

Slimes everywhere.

But not just the average variety of slimes that are usually the pink, rock, tabby, or phosphor breeds. (Even when the phosphor slimes never come out during the day.)

Brent could see a pink honey slime lingering in a patch of flowers, which would snap up any insects that were attracted to its sweet scent. Yellow almond-shaped eyes were seen peering behind a tree trunk as it stalked a beaked mouse. A small explosion rocked the land as a boom slime blew the bark off of a tree after it was startled by a chopper bird pouncing onto it. An aura of green brightened the land as a rad slime was chased by some giant, spiny, horned bull-lizard. Fortunately for the rad slime, the giant bull-lizard became too weakened to chase after lingering too long in the radioactive aura produced by the slime.

And then there was the gold slime that was idling in the middle of a small meadow, with little care in the world.

Brent, Samantha, and Robert were surprised that more slime breeds were appearing on this world.

But this also meant bad news for Brent and company. "... How did these guys get here?" Brent asked incredulously.

Robert shook his head. "No idea, but this means if any of these slime largos eat a plort they don't produce, we'll have a Tarr outbreak on our hands. Right Brent?" Robert said, turning to Brent.

Brent nodded grimly. "Yeah. It happened as I left the beach after the largos ate those orks and snotlings. Should we warn Tiff?"

Robert sighed. "I'll inform her." He said, turning around and heading back to the cave.

Samantha stared at the various slimes that prolifically populated this once hidden area. She sighed. "So... What? Does this mean they spread by spores, or..."

Brent shook his head. "Does that bet even matter to us right now?"

Samantha huffed as she stared at the bull-lizard, which begun to chase after the rad slime again after it had its breather. "... I guess not? I dunno. But... this still leaves me with a lot of questions. How did these other slimes get here?"

"I guess we'll just have to assume these guys came here through the portal we made, or that something happened here after we left." Brent said.

"Oh wow! So there ARE slimes here too!"

Brent and Samantha turned to see Tiffany behind them. Brent's mouth gaped in horror. "Uh?! Tiffany?! Your in the sun!"

Tiffany nodded at Brent. "I know, I know! I just wanted to see these other slimes for myself real quick."

"Aren't you worried that you'll die in the sunlight?!" Brent exclaimed.

Tiffany smiled reassuringly at Brent. "Oh don't worry yourself over me. I can stay out in daylight for thirty minutes. I'll come back to the cave after ten minutes. Okay?"

Brent paused for a few seconds before shaking his head. "Make it five and I'll agree that Palpatine is stronger than Voldemort."

Tiffany blinked a few times before she smiled broadly at Brent. "Daaaaw, you care about me~!"

Samantha gave Tiffany a deadpanned stare. "Tiff. Go back to the cave. We'll get you some food."

Tiffany's expression became hurt when she turned to Samantha. "... But... Saaaaaam! I wanna talk to you guys! About the sliiiiiiiiiimes!"

Samantha shook her head and stared at Tiffany. "Tiff. Go back to the cave. What would happen if there was a Tarr outbreak? You'd be safer in there."

Tiffany pouted. "... Fine. You better get me something extra juicy." She said before turning around and heading back to the cave. Robert was seen coming up over a hill hurriedly following after Tiffany, only to meet up with her again as she was returning.

Brent sighed. "Sam? Do you think I can help you out with collecting food for Tiff?"

Samantha turned to Brent, huffed, and nodded. "Sure, but I'm pretty certain it'll be slim pickings out here."

"Which is why I want to help. The less hungry Tiff is, the less trouble she'll get into. At least I hope that's the case."

Samantha nodded with a smile. "A sound reason. Think you can keep up with a pink tabby largo?" Samantha said as she began to lead the way.

Brent nodded as he followed. "I'll try."

And so, Brent and Tiffany braved the brushland, staying far from any largos and passing by many harmless purebred slimes. The many slimes they encountered were without any human intelligence, and were either only interested in eating food or... anything else that seemed entertaining for their simple minds. But alas, Brent and Sam trundled on as they searched for any fruit that would sate Tiffany's hunger. Although, since Tiffany was now a pink phosphor largo, any kind of food could be gathered to feed her, now that Brent thought about it. Regardless, they proceeded forward with this one objective in mind.

Little did they know, they were being watched.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I blame my writer's block.**


End file.
